ROCHESTER HILLS – Motivation for Rochester Adams was as thick as the rainfall for Tuesday night’s match against Clarkston.
The Highlanders had won nine of their last 10 games to end the regular season before losing 1-0 to Lake Orion in last year’s district opener.
Before that late-season run, the Wolves, who had been on the wrong end of the school series in several previous meetings, handed Adams a 2-1 defeat on April 13, 2023.
Playing most of the match in a downpour, the Highlanders looked anything but soggy as they fired in four first-half goals en route to a 6-0 victory over the visiting Wolves.
Photo gallery from Clarkston at Rochester Adams girls soccer
It marked the first time Adams had scored six goals on an OAA opponent since a 6-1 victory over Seaholm on April 27, 2021.
“We were extra excited to come out harder than last year,” Highlanders senior Danielle Danko said. “They beat us in the last few minutes last year and we kind of took that one to heart. We wanted to come out stronger this year, get our revenge, so I’m super proud of all of us.”
Adams nearly opened its account when junior midfielder Sadie Rogers chipped a shot that pinged the post in the first several minutes, but it was Danko who helped manufacture the first goal after her deflected cross led to an easy tap-in by Highlanders sophomore Maya Orlowsky.
Less than five minutes later, Kaitlyn Dempster poached a goal off a corner kick, and Danko factored into the scoring again when she played a ball from the left wing inwards to fellow senior Evelyn Kekhoua, who cracked a first-time shot out of the reach of Clarkston sophomore goalkeeper Avery Eastman to make it 3-0 with 15:03 left in the first half.
Junior Addy Angel dispossessed the Wolves for a fourth goal that dribbled slowly into the net with just over four minutes left until halftime.
“I think we pressed as a whole really well, from our center backs to our holding mids, all the way to our center forward,” Danko said. “We were stepping as one whole unit, cutting off those passes and getting those through balls up to our wide (players). We made a lot of opportunities in the beginning that created a lot of momentum.”
Wolves head coach Damian Huffer was unhappy with the goals conceded, particularly the second when markers near the front post might have prevented Dempster’s finish.
“We said to make sure there (was someone) at the corner of the six-yard box as the ball came in, and that’s where they scored from,” said Huffer, whose team was playing in its first game, while Adams opened with a 2-0 win over Country Day on March 20. “I think every goal we gave to them was pretty much gifted. I don’t think we made it hard for them to win that game at all.”
The Wolves had several chances to pull one back in the last few minutes before intermission when a ball was cleared off the line for a corner, forcing Adams to put out several fires in their area as Clarkston persisted.
Instead, Danko made it 5-0 about 13 minutes into the second half when she displayed patience on the ball before rounding the onrushing keeper and finishing.
Adams junior Julianna Zobrist was unselfish when she served up a ball that was slotted in by senior Yohanna Wang with just under 20 minutes remaining to wrap the scoring.
While the Highlanders are loaded with upperclassmen eager to make a deeper run in this year’s playoffs, Huffer’s side returns roughly half its starters from last year’s side that finished bottom of the OAA Red and will compete this season in the White.
“A lot of learning (to do), and we learned the hard way,” Huffer said. “The most basic level of any soccer game, you’ve got to match the effort of the other team to give yourself a chance, and that’s a platform to build on today. It looked good when we moved the ball with tempo, but ultimately, you’ve got to defend as a team and make it harder for them to score.”
Both teams will return to the pitch Thursday as Clarkston travels to Groves and Adams stays at home to host Troy.
