One team has been stuck in the heads of Ellie Whalen and her Pontiac Notre Dame Prep girls soccer teammates for the past year.
“Every day, every practice, it has been what can we do to beat Regina?” Whalen said.
Notre Dame Prep and Warren Regina, two top-10 teams this season, met for the fourth straight year in the Michigan high school Division 3 district finals. Regina won the previous three matchups, all in overtime or a shootout, including in last year’s run to the state championship game.
Notre Dame Prep finally broke through that barrier on Thursday, May 28, at Clawson. The Fighting Irish seized control with two goals in two minutes in the second half, beating Regina, 3-2, in the MHSAA playoffs to keep their season alive.
“We always think back,” Whalen, a Wayne State soccer commit, said Thursday. “Last year was such a tough loss, losing in overtime like that. It is what motivates us to keep playing hard and working hard in the offseason.”
Notre Dame Prep broke a 1-1 tie with two goals in an instant following a red card for Regina. The Saddelites’ player was sent off with a second yellow card for saying something following a foul call near the corner flag. After a few minutes of discussion, referees confirmed the red and Regina played the stretch down a player.
A minute later, Whalen got behind the right side of the Regina defense. She carried the ball into the box before squaring it to senior midfielder Cate Jesena, who buried a quick shot into the top of the frame for the lead with 24:37 left.
The momentum stayed with Notre Dame Prep. The Irish got loose down the left side of the field a minute later. Whalen played the ball into Jesena, who had her back to the goal near the edge of the 18-yard box. Jesena quickly fed the ball back, and Whalen tucked the deciding goal into the bottom right corner.
“We work on a lot of combination play because some of the teams we play like to sit in and defend,” Notre Dame Prep coach Jim Stachura said. “Today, the couple of times they did make mistakes, we just made them pay.”
Senior Maggie Maher put Notre Dame Prep ahead in the first eight minutes by curling a corner kick over a sea of bodies into the far corner. Regina answered a little over 10 minutes later with a breakaway goal from senior Nia Guess.
In the final minutes, the Saddelites threw bodies forward looking for two goals to equalize. They got one with six minutes left on a great header flicked over the goalie by Maddy Steffani, but they could not find another.
“They have a lot of returning players,” Stachura said. “We have a lot of returning players. We have a lot of youth as well. We are still learning how to win, but this was a good statement win for us.”
Notre Dame Prep now awaits to see who they will play in regionals on Tuesday (5 p.m.) at Williamston High School. It will play Williamston or Goodrich, the top-ranked team in Division 3, which beat Notre Dame Prep, 6-0, in March. Williamston and Goodrich play Friday (6 p.m.) at Lake Fenton High School.
But first, the Irish will celebrate taking home a district trophy after a few years of heartbreak against Regina. It is a milestone marker as they try to reach East Lansing.
“This has been the final goal,” Whalen said. “Every year, we look forward to playing them. They are an amazing team. You’ve always got to lock in for Regina. So, it is such a relief and I’m ready for the next [match].”
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Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MHSAA playoff revenge a relief for Pontiac Notre Dame Prep girls soccer
Reporting by Jared Ramsey, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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