By Jim Newell
Review Editor
ORION TWP. — The Lake Orion girls varsity soccer team is not a team to go down without a fight.
On Friday, Lake Orion showed their tenacity, facing off against the Romeo Bulldogs in an intense back-and-forth clash that saw several scoring opportunities for both teams and gritty play from both defenses.
The Dragons earned the 2-1 win, defeating the Bulldogs (7-3-4 overall, 5-1-2 MAC-Red division), a team that is second place in the top division of the Macomb Area Conference.
Lake Orion (8-3-4 overall, 4-1-2 OAA White) previously tied Romeo, 0-0, during the Falcon Friendlies tournament on April 29.
After a scoreless first half, junior midfielder Momo Okuma dribbled through the Bulldog defense and put the Dragons on the scoreboard at seven minutes into the second half with a shot to the lower left corner of the goal, giving Lake Orion the 1-0 lead.
The Dragons had an excellent scoring opportunity five minutes later when senior captain Anna Wandrie sent a ball to sophomore midfielder Dylan Verlinden on the left side of the Dragon attack. Verlinden dribbled the ball to the corner and crossed it in front of the Romeo goal where senior captain Whitney Acker just missed heading the ball past the Bulldog goalkeeper.
Lake Orion continued to pressure Romeo and less than a minute later Verlinden found the back of the Romeo net, giving the Dragons a two-goal advantage with 28:58 left in the game.
The Bulldogs, however, were equally tenacious and continued to attack Lake Orion throughout the remainder of the second half.
Romeo scored with 1:16 left in the game, narrowing the Dragon’s lead to 2-1.
The last minute of play was a desperate attempt by Romeo players to tie the game, but it looked like Lake Orion could seal the victory when Verlinden had a breakaway with just 30 seconds left but Romeo goalkeeper Eva Hill deflected the shot.
Neither team was able to capitalize in the final seconds of the game and Lake Orion walked away with a hard-earned win.
Wandrie set the pace for the Dragons in center midfield, stealing the ball from the Romeo players and creating opportunities for her offense with stellar passing, while Acker kept pressure on the Romeo defense all game and forced turnovers in the Bulldog defensive third.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kylie Kopitzki made several good saves, including deflecting a shot during a Bulldog bombardment inside the six-yard box with 29 minutes left in the first half. Romeo had at least three scoring chances in a matter of seconds that Kopitzki and her defense deflected and eventually cleared.
Junior Erin Regalia led the backline for Lake Orion with senior defender Grace Sullivan shutting down the attack on her side of the field. During the Bulldog’s late-game bombardment, Sullivan, one of the team’s three captains, cleared a shot off the goal line that would have certainly scored if she had not been covering the net.
It was also senior night, with the team honoring Lake Orion’s five seniors – Whitney Acker, Mallory Divozzo, Audrey Llewellyn, Grace Sullivan and Anna Wandrie – and their parents during a flower ceremony at halftime.
The Dragons are back-to-back district champs, defeating Oxford 1-0 last year and Grand Blanc 2-1 in overtime in 2021.
The team travels to Midland Dow (9-2-3) on Wednesday and then to Sterling Heights Stevenson (3-7-2) for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.