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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. – Graham Bauman was seemingly a little bit frustrated in the opening 15 minutes Monday in Troy’s district semifinals match with Birmingham Seaholm.
Instead of ripping off a pair of shots, he ended up turning the ball over twice deep into Seaholm territory to open the game. At one time he sank his head in disgust and put his hands in the air.
On the third time, however, the senior forward really made sure that it was a charm and the ball would end up in the back of the net.
Picking off a passback around 30 yards in front of the Seaholm goal, Bauman went in alone on Maples sophomore goalkeeper Brody Feldmaier and deposited a 20-yard blast into the top shelf on the left side of the goal to give Troy a 1-0 lead with 19:24 remaining in the first half.
That eventual game-winning goal more than ignited a dominating effort by the Division 1 third-ranked Colts and lifted Troy to a 2-0 victory over Seaholm, honorable mention in the D-1 rankings, in a district semifinals clash at Royal Oak High School.
“I just told myself before the game it’s the non-negotiables and I just have to keep working hard the whole game (no matter what happens),” offered Bauman, who is on the varsity for a third season but had injury issues two years ago when he was a sophomore. “Our team is like a family and we all agree about that. We have many seniors and we have to make sure that we work hard and have (those) non-negotiables.”
Troy went on to outshoot the Maples 20-3 in the contest, including 10-2 with shots on goal, and even held a 6-4 edge off cornerkicks. More importantly, Troy’s stingy defense more than held its own once again, stifling whatever the Maples threw the Colts’ way.
Troy’s stout back line, anchored by NCAA Division I recruit and third-year starter Nahuel Larroquette, has only allowed seven opponents to even score on Troy’s backline this season and no school has scored more than one goal on the Colts. The Troy defense doesn’t even concede many chances and simply frustrated the Maples all evening long just as they have done to opponents all season.
Defensively, Troy lowered its team goal-against-average down to a paltry 0.47 over 15 games – one the state’s better totals (https://www.michigansoccernetwork.com/post/boys-soccer-state-wide-leaders-board-2024) – and continued the trend set forth by second-year head coach Adam Spinks back in August.
“We have full trust in our whole team defending as a unit, especially goalie as well, and our whole back line as a whole. As a unit when we put one in we’re confident that we can hold on for the whole game. We’ve been doing it all season. We have the best defensive record in Michigan,” boasted Larroquette. “When we put one in, we’re not really scared (the opposition) will put one back.”
Troy (13-2-0) carries a five-game unbeaten streak into Wednesday’s district finals against No. 12 Berkley (17-4-2) on a run where they have not only pitched five straight shutouts but have outscored its foes 21-0 in that stretch. The Colts are in the district finals for the fourth year in a row and can win their third district title in four years with a win over Berkley Wednesday night.
“You know that first 20 minutes of a game, it’s always going to be scrappy. But we can kind of control that first half of the first half and if we can get the early goal that kind of settles your team down perfectly and that’s what we did,” noted Troy coach Adam Spinks.
“We returned the whole back line from last year and that was a big learning year. We worked on (defending) a lot. Our captains back there (Larroquette and Andrew Pawlowski), and Santi (Coranodo) is a good leader back there as well,” continued Spinks. “We knew coming into this year we knew defense was going to be our strongest bit and we’ve proved it this year. Seven goals allowed (at this point), we’ve stayed in single digits which was what our goal was this season.”
The Colts lost to Grand Blanc (1-0) on Sept. 26 and have not lost since, although Troy did have two games cancelled late in the regular season. The other loss was to OAA-Red rival Rochester Adams (1-0), which have been ranked inside the top 10 all season and one of several teams with a realistic shot of making a deep run. Both of the Colts’ losses this season were against two state powerhouse teams that have a combined three losses and are current top-10 teams. Grand Blanc entered the postseason ranked sixth and Adams was fifth in Sunday night’s MIHSSCA polls.
Bauman scored an insurance tally with 36:26 to play in the second half after he retrieved a long throw-in into the box by sophomore Cole Cusmano and volleyed home a shot in traffic from about seven yards out in front of the goal.
Troy did not convert again but dominated the second half with a 14-1 shots advantage while allowing just one shot on frame during the entire second half.
Junior Simeon Kolev notched the Colts’ eighth shutout on the season behind a pair of saves. He did make one clutch stop down the stretch to preserve the shutout.
Troy will now turn its focus to Berkley, a fellow state-ranked and OAA-Red Division opponent on Wednesday. The Colts defeated the Bears 2-1 back on Sept. 24 in a game played at Berkley. The district finals will be on a neutral field.
Seaholm lost junior attacking midfielder Patrick McCarty to a season-ending knee injury three weeks ago which forced the Maples to juggle their lineup without one of their top playmakers. Troy man-marked Seaholm senior Chase Henderson the whole game and consistently frustrated the Maples’ top offensive target for 80 minutes.
It marked the first and only time this season that Seaholm was kept off the scoreboard and the loss ended the Maples season with a respectable 12-6-2 overall record.
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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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