to advance to Saturday's D1 final
BY ED WRIGHT
Updated Nov. 4, 2010, 12:07 p.m.
The Holt High School soccer scoreboard told a big-time lie at
8:15 p.m. Wednesday night.
According to the board's illuminating lights, East Kentwood
walloped Canton, 4-1, in an ultra-entertaining Division 1 semifinal
contest that stretched into two overtimes.
But everyone who watched the game unfold knew the game was
anything but a landslide triumph for the Falcons.
In fact, with 6:20 left in the second half and the game knotted
at 1-1, Chief forward Dan Ovesea outmuscled an East Kentwood defender
for the ball just inside the left edge of the box.
Ovesea then slid a nifty pass to Griffin Parks, who was parked
15 yards in front of the net, but the potential game-winning pass came
within inches of finding Parks' red shoe and the Falcons' faithful
breathed a deep sigh of relief.
In the back-and-forth first 10-minute overtime session -- a new
MHSAA rule requires that two overtimes are played, thus, there is no
sudden-death -- EK's Nermin Crnkic scored with 3:55 left and Dzenan
Catic added another goal at the 10-second mark to salt away the victory.
Dino Duratovic added some frosting to the winners' cake with 6
minutes left in the second overtime.
"We had a lot of momentum in the second half," said Canton coach
George Tomasso. "We had East Kentwood on their toes. But East Kentwood
is a great team. They have a lethal strike, which is very deadly at
times. It's not just one player; they come at you in multiples.
"(Catic) and (Crnkic) are both outstanding players. Trying to
take one away is hard enough. When we'd take one away, the other took
the game over, especially in overtime."
EK came within inches of lighting up the scoreboard in the
second minute, but Connor Furgason cleared a ball from the goal line
for the 12th time this season, keeping the game scoreless.
The Falcons caught a break at the 30:30 mark of the first half
when a blatant hand-ball was missed by the ref in the middle of the
18-yard box.
Catic had put the Falcons on the board first late in the first
half when he eluded Canton goal-keeper Brandon Laabs' sliding effort to
smother the ball 15 yards out and tucked a low shot in the lower-left
corner of the net.
Like good teams do, the Falcons took advantage of a Canton
yellow card that sent stellar Canton defender Tyler Winningham to the
bench for 10 minutes.
Canton's Mitch Posuniak deadlocked the game at 1-1 five minutes
into the second half seconds after a Bobby Budlong throw-in. Posuniak
secured his own rebound off the cross-bar and
slid a slick shot past EK goal-keeper Ryan Warsen.
"That was a great goal," Tomasso said. "We got down low,
combined to the middle and got to the channel. We did a good job of
connecting on the throw-in."
Laabs made a spectacular save with 5:15 left to keep the game
tied.
Canton, which finished 20-4-2, should be a force in 2011 as
several core players return for another go-around. East Kentwood, on
the other hand, will be hit hard by graduation.
"I thought the team played at a very high level throughout the
whole year," said Tomasso. "We had a lot of achievement along the way.
We played a lot of good games and scored a lot of good goals.
"It's unfortunate it had to end this way, but on a high note, we
had one of the best seasons in Canton history."
Ed Wright
can be reached at (734) 453-1980 or info@plymouthcantonsports.com.
Connor
Shennan maneuvers past East Kentwood's Dzenan Catic. (Ed Wright photo)
Mitch
Posuniak, who scored Canton's lone goal, settles a ball during the
first half. (Ed Wright photo)
The
18-yard box was buzzing with activity in this second-half sequence. (Ed
Wright photo)
A diving
effort by Brandon Laabs snuffs out this East Kentwood scoring chance.
(Ed Wright photo)
East
Kentwood's Dzenan Catic drew attention from three Chiefs: Kyle Krause
(13), Sean Balnaves (8) and Shean Krolicki (19). (Ed Wright photo)
Griffin
Parks controls the ball as Nermin Crnkic closes in. (Ed Wright photo)
Canton's
Connor Furgason won this battle for the ball. (Ed Wright photo)
