Postseason Roundup: St. Francis shuts out Houghton in girls soccer district opener; TC United's girls season ends in loss to Grandville

May 22—TRAVERSE CITY — The scoreboard at the Keystone Soccer Complex might not have been working, but the Traverse City St. Francis offense certainly was not broken.

The Gladiators (13-1-2) dominated the visiting Houghton Gremlins (1-7) by a 7-0 final in the opening match of a Division 3 varsity girls soccer district tournament Wednesday. A lightning strike Monday short-circuited the scoreboard at Keystone, forcing scoring and timing updates announced throughout the game.

"We didn't have anything on them," St. Francis head coach Scott Conway said of scouting Houghton. "It's tough when you look at records. Sometimes it just doesn't tell the true story. But they drove down here, so they must have thought they had a shot."

The Glads looked a little tentative in the early goings of the match; but once they worked out those postseason-opening nerves, St. Francis was off and running. Conway told his assistant coach that the scoring was going to happen in chunks once his squad figured it out.

That's exactly what happened.

Reese Muma opened the scoring for the Lake Michigan Conference champion Gladiators just about halfway through the first period, firing the ball between a Houghton Lake defender's legs and getting it by Gremlin goalie Ella Markham. The assist went to Sidney Peters.

Betsy Skendzel nearly made it 2-0 just a few minutes later, but her shot went wide. The junior would make up for it later in the half when her chip-shot goal made it over the outstretched arms of Markham and into the front corner to make it 4-0.

Between Muma's and Skendzel's goals, Peters scored on an assist from Riley Collins and Mary Kate Carroll connected on a long goal that dropped in over Markham's head.

The Gladiators took a 4-0 lead into the break and notched three more goals in the final 40 minutes to secure the victory. Peters, who also had two assists in the game, scored again and Lilianna David tallied two goals in the second half. Collins finished with four assists, and Muma had the other helper.

Paisleigh Upshaw didn't see much action in goal for St. Francis, finishing with three saves on a couple of rollers into the box.

"We locked up the conference with still a game to go. We locked up the district with two games left. So we were kind of in 'fun mode' the last week, and I was able to get a bunch of my girls playing time — especially the ones who don't get a lot," Conway said. "At practice (Tuesday), we had to get serious with the playoffs starting."

Conway said his message to the team before the game was, "Don't play down. Make them play up to us."

"We started slow but finally put the hammer down," he said. "We really dominated the game, so I'm really proud of how they played. That's how we have to play throughout this playoff run. I'm glad we rallied together today and played a great game."

St. Francis will get home-pitch advantage in the district semifinal, welcoming Boyne City to Keystone for a 6 p.m. start on Tuesday.

GIRLS LACROSSE REGIONALS

United's inaugural season ends with loss to Grandville

GRANDVILLE — Although the Traverse City United saw their season come to an end with a 21-9 loss to Grandville in the Division 1 girls lacrosse regional quarterfinals, head coach Rich Axtell still sees the program's first year as a success.

"The game plan was to get things started," Axtell said. "We wanted to go a couple games deep in the postseason, and we certainly did that."

The United lost to Grandville, 20-5, earlier in the season.

"We played better, but they're a very talented team," Axtell said. "As a first-year program, we just don't have the firepower to match up with teams that are as experienced and deep as they are. We closed the gap a little bit, but they were just a couple steps quicker than us."

Axtell was proud of the effort from his team, noting that they played hard until the end of the game. Quinn Gerber had five goals and an assist. Addison Taggart had two goals and two assists. Ella Brisbois had a goal and an assist, and Amarah Lesperance tallied a goal.

Axtell said the United (4-11-2) are on a three-year plan as he and others work to now build on the foundation this year's team laid out.

"Some good, young players got a lot of playing time this year, and they learned a lot from our seniors," he said. "We want to expand the program now and recruit more players so we can have a JV program."

A JV program will allow for more playing time for quicker improvement, Axtell said, and he is hopeful to get a middle school program going in Traverse City to serve as a feeder for the high school team.

"We've had a very productive season, even with the ups and downs that you expect with a first-year program," Axtell said. "We're coming out of this with a strong foundation going forward."

GIRLS SOCCER DISTRICTS

BR Crossroads 9

Benzie Central 3

Benzie Central: Kadence Popour 3 goals; Hannah Batchelder 35 saves; Leila Rothermel 1 assist; Cambrie Lawrence 1 assist; Jess Whaley, Siela Schmitt with excellent midfield play.

UP NEXT: The Huskies end their season at 0-18.

Boyne City 5

Kingsley 2

UP NEXT: The Ramblers (5-10) travel to the Keystone Soccer Complex to play Traverse City St. Francis in the district semifinal Tuesday. The Stags end their season at 3-13-1.

Lakeview 2

Buckley 0

UP NEXT: The Bears end their season at 5-11-4.