ROCHESTER HILLS >> When senior Jenna Accetta had a penalty kick turned away midway through the first half of Tuesday’s D1 regional semifinal, it could have swung the momentum away from Dakota.

Instead, the Cougars looked invigorated before halftime, then hit swiftly for two goals early when play resumed, including the first by Accetta, and those proved the difference in Dakota’s 2-0 victory over Berkley at Rochester High School.

“After I missed the penalty kick, I’m like, ‘Alright, I really gotta make this up now,’ and the first thought was that I just have to go as hard as I can,” Accetta said. “I knew that (their girl had) a bad touch and that I was going to get onto it, and I just gave her everything, worked hard and got the ball in the net.”

The teams went into intermission scoreless after Dakota’s penalty was gobbled up by Bears senior netminder Avery Weingarden. Up to that point, Berkley had generated its share of set piece opportunities.

“I think we did a good job establishing a rhythm to our play,” Bears head coach Zach Hobson said. “We really controlled the middle third in the opening stages of the first half, but ultimately weren’t able to capitalize on any of the chances we created.”

As the opening 40 minutes came to a close, the run of play seemed to favor Dakota by its ability to string together short passes in the Bears’ final third. That work was rewarded just under five minutes into the second half when Accetta cut inward from the right and sliced a shot across her body that was slotted inside the post to the left of Weingarden, who was left with no chance of stopping it.

Pressure from Dakota (10-8) didn’t relent following the opener, and the Cougars added to their advantage on a goal by senior Sophia Mastonardi, making it 2-0 with 32:40 remaining.

“Towards the start of the first half, we were very flat and you could tell we didn’t have the energy,” Mastronardi said. “We kept ourselves up enough where there were no goals at the end of the