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Posted on Fri, May 31, 2013 : 10:38 p.m.

Pioneer scores three second-half goals to top Skyline for girls soccer district title

By Kyle Austin

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For the entire month of May, the Pioneer girls soccer team has showed just how much a team can improve in a half season. That journey came full circle on Friday.

The Pioneers scored three second-half goals and clinched a district title with a 3-0 win over Skyline Friday night at Huron High School.

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The Pioneer win came 31 days after Skyline won the regular-season matchup between the two teams, 3-0, back on April 30. Since then, the Pioneers have gone 11-0-1. The last three of those wins in the district tournament came by a combined 13 goals.

“That was, I think, a turning point,” Pioneer coach Chris Coleman said of the first Skyline game.

Pioneer (13-3-3) now advances to play either East Kentwood or Caledonia next Tuesday in a regional semifinal Tuesday at Caledonia.

Following a scoreless first half, Pioneer forward Jennifer Fichera sent a free kick from 30-yards out just around a wall of Skyline players and into the top corner of the net.

The kick came courtesy of a hand ball call on Skyline deep in its own end that even Coleman didn't agree with.

“It was an unfortunate call,” Coleman said. “If I was an official, I wouldn’t have called it, but we were the beneficiaries of getting a call by the official.”

Right or wrong, the call allowed Pioneer to jump out to a lead in what had been a closely played game to that point.

“That was huge, I think that kind of changed the whole momentum of the game,” Fichera said. “Also, we knew that it was going to be a pretty back-and-forth, even game throughout, so the fact that we could get ahead before they did was really big.”

But the goal that put Skyline (17-3-1) on its heels came just 17 seconds later, when a routine ball on the outer part of the goalie box slipped through the legs of Skyline goalie Tori Norris on a wet night. Pioneer’s Mackenzie Sapp was able to run behind Norris and score on an empty net.

“I think she’s the best goalie in the state, in my opinion,” Coleman said of Norris. “Best high school goalie I’ve seen in a long time. So that second goal, it’s unfortunate. It slipped right through her hands.”

Pioneer's Lena Katterman scored on another free kick with three minutes left to put her team up three. Pioneer goalkeeper Sofia Gambini made six saves, including one on a breakaway from point-blank range late in the second half, to earn the shutout.

Friday’s game marked the culmination of a long three days for Skyline. The team’s district opener against Howell was delayed from Tuesday to Wednesday due to tornado warnings, and went to overtime before the Eagles pulled out the win. Thursday night against Huron, it took more than two hours of rain delays before Skyline took a 3-0 victory.

“It was unfortunate that the game was played today,” Skyline coach Chris Morgan said.

On a night when little went right for the Eagles, Skyline was hit by the injury bug early when its top forward, senior Margo Apostoleris, went down with a leg injury three minutes into the game and didn’t return.

“Three days of wear and tear, I think that played into it,” Morgan said of the injury.

But Skyline’s poor fortune was Pioneer’s good fortune, as a team that had the right pieces all along came together at the right time.

“I think just patient and trust with one another, and listening,” Coleman said. "And not necessarily to me but to each other. I think they’ve learned to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and how to be compatible with them. It’s not so much a soccer thing as much as it is a chemistry thing. They’ve done a good job of really listening to each other and playing with each other.”

Kyle Austin covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kyleaustin@annarbor.com or 734-623-2535. Follow him on Twitter @KAustin_AA.

Comments

simonsays

Sat, Jun 1, 2013 : 7:26 p.m.

Happened to stop by at the game just as a spectator. As you report, it was a great game played hard at a high level by both teams. But something your report doesn't say is how Pioneer out-played, out-ran, out-smarted both offensively and defensively. Pioneer won because they came through during critical points in that game. Congrats to their Coach and to each one on that team. A well-deserved win!

TryingToBeObjective

Sat, Jun 1, 2013 : 3:43 a.m.

I thought Skylines primary school color was Columbia blue? That white just doesn't have any spark. Kinda blah.

Kyle Austin

Sat, Jun 1, 2013 : 4:27 a.m.

I wasn't a fan of light blue numbers on white jerseys. Not ideal for those of us trying to pick out numbers from the press box

MMM

Sat, Jun 1, 2013 : 3:35 a.m.

Woohooo. Way to go Pioneer!

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