The lady Dragon strikers of Lake Orion High School sought revenge against the Highlanders of Rochester Adams, May 10, for a loss earlier in the season.
They fell just short, losing the game 1-0.
Head Coach Randy McCoy said the team looked better than they had all season, but noted the OAA Red division is the best overall league in the state and easily the most unforgiving.
‘We’ve seen a enough games in the OAA Red to know what we’re up against, we let them get a goal late in the first half, we had chances and we didn’t capitalize on it,? said McCoy. ‘We play better and look better game after game, but it’s brutal in the OAA Red. You’re learning playing against the best – you never get an easier team where you can learn at a slower pace. Now Adams happens to be one of the top ten teams in the state.?
McCoy said the team’s goal at this point is to make ‘noise? in the district finals and go from there. He said if the team is able to win the opening games in the state playoffs, they can play against either Grand Blanc or Davison – both whom McCoy said are beatable.
‘We played Davison earlier in the season and we played flat as it was the third game of the day,? he said. ‘We need to get back at Davison for beating us and now the game is on our home turf. Grand Blanc is always good but their results show they are not the typical Grand Blanc team.
‘Out on the other side of the district, we’ll know how we stand up against Clarkson in two weeks when we play them. As far as Oxford, we’ve beaten them before.?
The teams current record is 4-8-2 overall and 2-7-1 for the league. McCoy said despite the losing record, he has high hopes for the girls on his team as many are young. He acknowledged the team struggled in the early season, but said ‘the honeymoon is over? and now he expects his players to act and ‘perform like varsity soccer players.?
‘In the beginning they were young and we had to rely on freshmen, but that’s changed now – now we’re supposed to play like varsity players,? he said. ‘We can absolutely finish like a varsity team. We knew we needed to learn and now we know that when we make noise we can be a challenging team in this season.
‘We’re in the OAA REd and we have to stand up for the OAA Red.?
The soccer team played on the weekend against Carmen Ainsworth on May 12 in a weekend tournament. They also played against Stoney Creek on Tuesday and will play Athens on Thursday at Lake Orion High School. The Athens game is another game McCoy believes is winnable and said ‘if we can just convert on all of the scoring opportunities we get, we can make this count.?
