(Have photos to go with this story? Email pics to Web and Content Editor / Director of News Dan Stickradt at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com and dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com and also list photo credit as well.)
MICHIGAN SOCCER NETWORK: MSN NEWS: www.michigansoccernetwork.com/msnnews
BY DAN STICKRADT
WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR | DIRECTOR OF NEWS
Michigan Soccer Network | Premier Media Group and affiliates
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ROYAL OAK, Mich. – Adam Spinks has said all season long that there are no secrets as to why Troy has been so highly-regarded this season. He returned the bulk of his starting lineup this season and stout defense and opportunistic offense has become the bread and butter of the Colts’ recipe of success.
Especially the defense.
The Colts, ranked third in Division 1, put that stout defense to the test once again Wednesday night and Troy came away with a 1-0 victory over 12th-ranked Berkley in a Division 1 district finals at Royal Oak High School.
It marks the sixth-straight shutout for Troy (14-2-0) and ninth overall this season. For the 16th time this year, Troy’s opponents were held to either one or no goals.
The Colts own a 45-7 scoring edge this season – and shut down Berkely’s high-powered attack. Troy also defeated the Bears 2-1 back on Sept. 24.
“We have the same back line as last year,” admitted Spinks. “Last year we started slow and gave up 25 goals on the season. But we got to the district finals and were much better at the end of the season than at the start. This time we’ve only given up seven goals this year and we’ve played some really good teams. We knew that defense was going to be our strength.”
It marks the second time in three years that the Colts captured both the Oakland Activities Association-Red Division and Division 1 district titles in the same season. Troy, which made its fourth straight district finals appearance, also gained the sweep in 2022 as the No. 1-ranked school in Division 1 – and those accomplishments come from playing in the loaded OAA-Red Division and one of the state’s toughest districts on an annual basis.
Troy held a 9-6 overall shots advantage over Berkley in a tightly-contested district finals, which is to be expected of two teams that not only spent the entire season inside the MIHSSCA Division Top 15 rankings – but a game that features two schools that know each other all too well.
The two programs have squared off dozens of times in league play or in district play dating back to the 1980s.
In fact, besides the annual OAA-Red Division matchup between the two schools, Wednesday’s district finals clash was the sixth time the two have faced off in a district game during the past decade and fourth time the two rivals faced off in the district finals since 2015.
Troy defeated Berkley in the district championship match in 2022 (2-1, shootout), 2021 (2-1) and 2017 (1-0), while the Bears actually defeated Troy in the pre-district round in both 2015 (2-1, overtime) and 2018 (2-1).
This time around, Troy scored a goal in the 28th minute and the Colts’ stingy defense held its own to keep Berkley (17-5-2) off the scoreboard for the first and only time this season.
The Bears came into the match with a 69-21 scoring edge, a 1.10 goals-against-average, 11 shutouts and 3.00 goals a game offensive average.
Troy had other plans and that was to limit Berkley’s chances to a bare minimum.
Berkley only registered three shots on target as part of its six overall shots and generated just three cornerkicks in the match.
Senior forward Kai Neilsen – the OAA-Red league-leader in goals this season with 21 tallies – was able to take four shots on the night. His first was a left-footed rocket with 23:35 left in the first half from around 22 yards out in front of the goal, but Troy junior goalkeeper Simeon Kolev dove to his right to make the stop. Nielsen’s other three shots were off target and sailed wide or over the goal, and the Bears could only mange two other shots attempts the rest of the night.
Kolev finished with three saves for his team’s ninth shutout and sixth straight clean sheet, including a close-range stop inside the final 15 minutes of the contest. Kolev has conceded only five goals all season, while freshman back-up keeper Tyler Hayslett has yielded two goals on the campaign.
Ironically, Troy got the game’s only goal from one of its marking backs, senior defensive stalwart Andrew Pawlowski. Temporarily pushed up into the attack, Pawlowski was left open at the left post after sophomore midfielder Mateo Coranado slipped past a defender along the right side and sent a cross through traffic and over to Pawlowski – who left no doubt with his two-yard sitter that was buried into the back of the net.
“It was a great pass and great finish.,” admitted Spinks. “Sometimes Andrew will get pushed up and someone else will cover for him in the back,” noted Spinks. “He actually has five goals this season.”
His fifth goal of the year was all Troy needed, as the Colts’ defense held Berkley at bay for the duration.
Berkley, which has been a model of consistency for the past decade-plus under coach Steve Wloszek, has not won a district title since 2000 – and that was a year when Troy and Troy Athens were in a different district group. The Bears are always a very competitive side but came up empty handed once again without a league or district crown to show for it.
“That’s the hard part about it. We don’t have a league or district this year even though we had a really good season again and we played a lot of very good teams,” noted Wloszek. “We were right there with them in both games this year, we just couldn’t catch a break this time.
“It is a little frustrating because we came out a little flat today and we made a couple of mistakes in the first half an Troy was able to score on one of them. We knew that Troy does not score a ton of goals against good teams. But they found a way to get one in tonight against us. For whatever the reason, we can’t seam to beat them in a district (finals match).”
Berkley will host a pair of regional semifinals next Tuesday (Oct. 22) and Troy awaits the winner of No. 5-ranked Rochester Adams and No. 11-ranked Utica Eisenhower, who will square off Saturday at 1 p.m. in a district finals clash at Rochester high School.
Adams (13-2-4) handed Troy one of its two losses earlier this season, 1-0 on Sept. 17, while the Colts have not played Eisenhower yet this season.
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(Have a story suggestion for the Premier Media Group and the Michigan Soccer Network regarding club soccer, high school varsity, amateur soccer, collegiate soccer or professional soccer involving teams, players or coaches with Michigan ties, contact Communications Specialist/Web and Content Editor/Director of News Dan Stickradt via email at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com or dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com, or call 248-884-1051 or 248-525-2349. Dan Stickradt is a 31-year veteran of the Michigan Media circles and recently joined the staff full time in March of 2024. Want to schedule a broadcast game or live show, contact PMG/MSN Director of Broadcasting Jonathan Turner for availability and pricing at jonathan@michigansoccernetwork.com and jonathan@thepremiermediagrp.com.)
(MSN will compile a random sampling of game results from around the state each day. To send in results from high school varsity, club, amateur, pre-pro, semi-pro or professional soccer, email all pertinent details to Communications Specialist / Web and Content Editor / Director of News Dan Stickradt at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com and dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com or submit information right on the correct link on the MSN website at https://www.michigansoccernetwork.com/reportascore. Please submit the competing teams, location and date of game, final score, overall and league records, goals, assists, goalkeepers and saves, standout defenders, players of the match, and any other pertinent details of the game. If there are courtesy action photos available, feel free to submit them at the above-listed emails.)
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