BY DAN STICKRADT
WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR
Twitter: @MiSoccerNetwork
CLARKSTON, Mich. – Damian Huffer believes that if a coach beefs up his schedule with tough opponents, then a team could reap benefits later in the season.
Besides playing a challenging Oakland Activities Association-White Division set this season, the Wolves loaded up some quality teams from various leagues across the state and have competed at a high level.
Clarkston is 11-5-2 entering Division 1 postseason play and have already captured the OAA-White title at 5-0-0. A game with Birmingham Seaholm was never completed due to weather but the Wolves won’t have to make up that game because it has no bearing on the conference championship.
Clarkston owns a 44-30 scoring edge with four shutouts – outscoring its league foes 16-3 this season with two clean sheets inside league play – and fared well against opponents from the OAA-Red Division, where the Wolves finished seventh last season.
Despite dropping its season-opener to state-ranked Rochester Adams (6-0), the Wolves fought back to edge Rochester (2-1) and had close games against OAA-Red foes Oxford (4-2 loss) and Troy Athens (1-0 loss). Clarkston also owns a 2-1 victory over Division 3 second-ranked Flint Powers Catholic with quality wins over the likes of Flint Metro League champion Goodrich (4-1), Lake Orion (2-1), Ann Arbor Huron (3-0), Birmingham Groves (1-0) and recently Royal Oak (3-1), a game that clinched the outright OAA-White championship, amongst the 11 wins.
“For the most part we’ve played really well this season, even in some of our losses,” admitted Huffer, who took over the Wolves program back in 2017.
In the five losses, three have been by just one goal and a recent one-goal loss to Davison (3-2) was a game where both schools had already solidified their placing in their respective leagues and opted to play everyone on their rosters in a final tune-up for the postseason.
“We had that loss to Adams to open the season. That one got away from us. Other than that, we’ve played quite well, actually,” noted Huffer. “We beat Rochester and they beat us last year. We lost to Oxford and Athens in close games, and I thought we had more of the chances against Athens. We just came up short. But I think we’ve played well against those OAA-Red teams which shows we can compete with just about everybody.”
Fielding a team with a bunch of non-seniors last season, Clarkston fought through another tough schedule to finish 12-10-0 overall. The Wolves finished 1-5-0 in the OAA-Red Division and the seventh-place slot saw the Wolves being dropped down to the OAA-White this season.
In terms of experience, Clarkston has a lot of it between high school soccer and club soccer, as several respectable clubs are represented on the Wolves’ roster. Now with an experienced lineup with as many as six players set to play collegiate soccer, Clarkston is looking to claim some more hardware and hopefully advance beyond the district field.
Senior midfielder Emma Bradley has signed with NCAA Division II Saginaw Valley State University. She leads the team with 11 goals and nine assists and has played every bit of the part of a top-level player that should garner some type of All-State honors. Fellow senior midfielder Avery Perkins, who played club soccer with Liverpool FC last spring, originally committed to a Division I program before decommitting and signed with NCAA Division II Ashland University.
Seniors Kennedy Meraches (D, signed with NCAA Division II Minnesota State University), Macie Moscovic (D/M, signed with NCAA Division III Baldwin-Wallace College) and Nicole Lemker (D/F) all entered the season as returning starters and have played well this season.
Seniors Avery Eastman and Izzy Shaw have split time in goal. Sophomore Emilia Cantinella (F) is again in the top three in scoring this year with seven goals, while senior Ava Tereau (M/F, signed with NCAA Division I Oakland University) was hurt all of last season but has come back strong.
Seniors Emily LaBrecque (D, signed with NAIA Lawrence Tech University), McKinlee Brumm (D, signed with NCAA Division II Westfield State University) and Channing Stoudt (M), along with juniors Claire Thomas (F/M), Sophia Washington (M) and Lana Sloan (M), who played with Nationals Girls Academy last season, have also been key players. Freshmen Alexa Knights (F) and Natalie Nora-Garcia (M/F) have aided the attack in their debut campaigns.
“WE do have a lot of experience and great leadership which I think comes from having a lot of seniors,” said Huffer. Emma Bradley has had an incredible year for us and so have several other players. Emma is one of the best players in our league.”
With the league title in hand for the second time in three seasons, Clarkston can now refocus on the upcoming state tournament, where the Wolves finished 2-1 a year ago. Clarkston joins Oxford, Davison, Grand Blanc, Flushing, Lake Orion and Lapeer in a highly-competitive and wide-open district where six of the seven schools are above the five-hundred mark. Grand Blanc won this district last season with a then senior-heavy roster and was listed as honorable mention in the Division 1 rankings a few weeks ago. Both Clarkston and Oxford were listed as honorable mention in the rankings this week, both Flushing and Davison finished in the top three in their respective leagues, and Lake Orion has gained some favorable results this season.
“It’s a tough district. There are some quality teams in this district, but I don’t think anybody is ranked,” noted Huffer. “Which is fine. We have as good of a chance as anyone. Grand Blanc always seems to be ready, and Greg (Kehler) has done a great job with that program over the years. Oxford is a good team this year and has done well. So has Lake Orion and Davison. A lot of teams have a shot at it.”
Clarkston has not captured very many district titles in its history dating back to the start of its girls soccer program in the late 1980s. The Wolves reached the district finals last season before falling to Grand Blanc (2-1).
“It’s been quite a while, actually,” said Huffer. “Hopefully we can get it done this year.”anced attack.
(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 of teams or players with Michigan ties, contact Communications Specialist/Web and Content Editor/Director of News Dan Stickradt via email at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com, or call 248-884-1051. 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.)
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