Crusaders edge Lancers in semifinal
Lutheran Northwest edges Oakland Christian in district semifinal
AUBURN HILLS » The Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest Crusaders defeated the Auburn Hills Oakland Christian Lancers 3-2 in Monday’s D4 district semifinal.
Vaughan Stauch put the Crusaders ahead for good with 22:47 to play in the second half when he banged in a rebound in transition.
The Crusaders doubled their lead with 19:09 remaining when Max Martin slammed in his second goal of the game from 12 yards out, making it 3-1.
“He (Martin) is like another coach on the field for me. He just doesn’t stop talking. He doesn’t stop running. Ever since his freshman year, I’ve relied on him pretty heavily,” Crusaders head coach Steve Ferguson said.
The Lancers dominated the ball much of the game but especially in the first half. Oakland Christian recycled possession much of the game and the Crusaders struggled to get out of their own end in the first half.
But it did the Lancers little good. Oakland Christian managed just one shot on goal in the first half and could do almost nothing against a tough Crusader backline of Declan Greene, Jack Miller, Justin Hawkins, and Nathan Jungeburg.
“They found out a way to play with each other, play to each other’s strengths and cover each other’s weaknesses,” Ferguson said.
The Crusaders went into halftime with a 1-0 lead with Martin scoring on the only shot of the half by Lutheran Northwest.
Oakland Christian came out fast in the second half and finally broke though on the scoreboard. Antonio Munoz got a pass from Thomas Megie and tied the game by slotting in a ball with 38:04 to play. The Lancers continued to dominate the ball but could not put another shot in until Munoz added his second goal very late in thematch.
“It was one of those situations where it’s the state playoffs. Everybody’s going to come ready to play, so I think for us we just couldn’t get any shots in,” Lancers head coach Patrick Reyes said. “We made it close. We were able to get back in their with that goal at the very, very end, but it was a tough way to go out.”
With the win, Lutheran Northwest (4-7-2) advances to Thursday’s district final against Clarkston Everest Collegiate. It is the Crusaders’ first district final since 2013.
“They’ve come a long way this season. We
started off the season losing 7-1 to Liggett, who is at the top of the standings in the state, so they recognize they have to play faster and have to play for each other instead of playing for ourselves,” Ferguson said.
Oakland Christian finishes the year 5- 4- 4. The Lancers will return 13 of 19 players next year.
“I had eight freshmen this year, two juniors, and three sophomores. So we’ll be young. Hopefully, the freshman class coming in will contribute, but obviously, the 13 guys that are remaining will need to definitely step up,” Reyes said. “We move forward, and you look back on the season and they did a lot. They grew, and I’m really happy with them.”