Pietsch paces Oxford onslaught

PREP SOCCER

No. 4 Wildcats pounce on West Bloomfield mistake, open floodgates en route to 6-1 regional victory

Ryan Pietsch (10) picked up a hat trick for Oxford during a 6-1 victory over West Bloomfield in a regional semifinal matchup Tuesday night in Novi. TIMOTHY ARRICK — FOR MEDIANEWS GROUP

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By Michael J Wallwork

For MediaNews Group

NOVI >> The Oxford Wildcats got a hat trick from Ryan Pietsch and rolled to a 6-1 win over the West Bloomfield Lakers in Tuesday’s D1 regional semifinal.

After the first 20 minutes were played evenly, Oxford sustained a little pressure, got a free kick from 22 yards out, and took advantage. Drew Cady stepped up to rip the free kick into the lower-right corner with 13:24 still to play in the first half, giving Oxford a 1-0 lead.

“The first mistake we made, we kind of opened the doors for them,” Lakers head coach Borce Kosteski said. “We competed pretty hard the first 20, 25 minutes, but after one mistake after another, it cost us.”

Things unraveled for West Bloomfield pretty quickly after. About four minutes later, Ronan McDonough picked out Pietsch with a long ball that Pietsch headed in to double Oxford’s lead. Pietsch scored off a free kick, heading in a ball from Cady to make it 3-0 and then Cady simply blasted a ball in from 40 yards away to give Oxford four goals in just over 11 minutes, and a 4-0 halftime lead, with three of the goals coming from free kicks either directly or indirectly.

“I thought 4-0 in the first half was very good for us. Our set pieces were good. Drew Cady and Ryan Pietsch were unbelievable,” Oxford head coach Adam Bican said. “But I think all around it was a great team effort.”

Pietsch completed his hat trick early in the second half, and the game was effectively out of reach at 5-0 Oxford.

Kinan Abdulrazzak would pull one back for the Lakers with a late free kick of his own, but it was too little, too late for West Bloomfield. For the most part, the Lakers struggled all game to get the ball to their top players, including Abdulrazzak and Brandon Fleurissaint, and West Bloomfield just struggled to find an offense against a tough Oxford back line of Cady, Max Myrand, and Coltrane Hudson.

“That was definitely by design. Those guys (Abdulrazzak and Fleurissaint) are very good, so we have to commit some resources to that,” Bican said. “I’m very happy with the defensive display and the work rate.”

Justo Pepi completed the scoring for Oxford (15-1-5), who will move on to Thursday’s regional final against Detroit Catholic Central in a rematch from last year’s regional semifinals after the Shamrocks won the later semifinal.

“It will be a great challenge no matter who it is, and we’re just looking forward to that game and being a part of it,” Bican said.

West Bloomfield finishes the year 9-7-2.

“It’s lots of hard work. Four years ago, when we started, myself and the players, we basically started from zero, and we’ve built every season,” Kosteski said. “Going now into regionals will give us lots of confidence for upcoming years. I think the program is going in the right direction, and I think the players are realizing what it takes to be where we are right now.”