photo courtesy of Steve Kahrs

Strong 'D', timely 'O' lift Canton
to KLAA South Division championship

BY ED WRIGHT
Oct. 8, 2010, 12:20 a.m.

  When it came to clinching the KLAA South Division title Thursday night, Canton's soccer players did it their way: with extraordinarily stingy defense and timely goals.

  The Chiefs handed Livonia Churchill a 2-0 thumping to improve their record to 14-2-2 overall and 8-1-1 in the South. The Chargers dropped to 6-3-1 in the division.

  Canton will tangle with KLAA Central Division champion Novi Monday night at 7 p.m. to determine the Kensington Conference champion. A victory would propel them into the KLAA Association championship contest.

  Plymouth finished second in the division with an 8-2 mark.

  Canton struck first 18 minutes into Thursday's game at Churchill when Bryan Ren slid a pass to sophomore Bobby Budlong, who one-timed a rocket from 20 yards out that Churchill keeper Bryan Bartig couldn't stop.

  The Chiefs found the mark again with six minutes left in the half when sophomore Dan Ovesea dropped a ball back to the right of the box that senior co-captain Phil Baciak drove past a diving Bartig.

  Canton's air-tight defense then took over to seal the deal. Churchill threatened nine minutes into the second half when a direct kick resulted in a hot tamale bouncer in front of the net.

  However, Connor Furgason and Kyle Krause both cleared shots off the goal line behind goal-keeper Brandon Laabs to preserve the shutout.

  Less than a minute later, Laabs repelled a golden Churchill opportunity from point-blank range.