The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Grosse Ile edges Big Reds 1-0
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 24, 2007
The Milan varsity girls' soccer team will one day beat out Grosse Ile for the Huron League title, but that day will not be this year.
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In a highly touted game Monday with the league title on the line, the Big Reds, who trailed Grosse Ile by only a point in the league standings, fell 1-0 to the Red Devils.
Milan did everything they needed to do to set up the league title showdown.
They defeated New Boston 3-1, a team that had tied Grosse Ile only days before. They defeated Monroe Jefferson 4-0. On the year, Milan had but one loss, which came at the hands of the Red Devils on the road in their first encounter.
In the New Boston game last Wednesday, the two teams entered the second half knotted at 0-0 before Jessica Young ripped two goals early, one unassisted and the other off a pass from Jennifer Dennison.
The Chiefs closed the gap to 2-1 before Stephanie Sell took a Sarah Towler pass and found the back of the net to put the game out of reach.
Two days later, the Big Reds shutout Jefferson 4-0, scoring twice in the first half and twice more in the second. They outshot the Bears 17-2.
Scoring in the first half were Sell off an assist from Dennison and Towler, who curved in a free kick. In the second half, Sell scored again off a pass from Kristen Riggs. Inspired, Riggs later took a ball from Tiffany Stacy and scored her first goal of the year.
The Big Reds had taken care of business. They could not have afforded a loss or tie to either Jefferson or New Boston. A shot at the league title would have gone poof.
The showdown was set.
Into town came Grosse Ile. The sun beat down. The wind blew. On a fence, fans had stuffed Styrofoam cups into the chain-link to spell out "Believe."
And for nearly 37 minutes the two teams thwarted one another's attacks. Grosse Ile managed to control the ball and largely kept it in Milan's end. They had two corner kicks within a span of three minutes, but the Big Red defense held. In goal, Meghan Donahue fended off eight shots on goal, incuding a header-shot at 7:58, a breakaway line drive from 18-yards out at 8:39, and a shot from right in front of the net at 8:08.
The Red Devils' pressure paid off at the 3:33 mark when a corner kick was toed into the net beyond Donahue's reach.
Neither team would score again. But Milan was the only team that had to.
Milan's best chance at a goal came at the 14:43 mark in the first half when a Grosse Ile player was yellow carded. Meredith Rizor took the penalty kick, but it went six inches too high.
Another chance came early in the second half when Stephanie Sell was tripped. Rizor's penalty kick was block, but Brittany Auten got a foot on the rebound and put it toward the net. Again, the ball went high.
A little luck would have come in handy.
Milan's luck didn't improve when it came to the district draw. In the first round, the Big Reds will face heavily favored Jackson Lumen-Christi.
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