06/07/2006

7-minute surge powers Norse

Suttons Bay nets three quick goals to blank Tawas

BY MARK URBAN

murban@record-eagle.com

Record-Eagle/
Jan-Michael Stump
Suttons Bay’s Alyssa Korson (6) tries unsuccess- fully to get the ball past Tawas Area goalkeeper Ashley Krumm.

ELK RAPIDS — The rain came much later than the lightning Tuesday afternoon.

Suttons Bay used its quick strike offense — scoring three goals in a span of 7:07 early in the first half — to blank Tawas 3-0 in a Division 3 regional soccer semifinal at Elk Rapids High School.

The scoring came so early for the Norse that those who arrived late missed all the scoring in the contest, which was played in a steady rain for much of the second half. All three tallies, two by freshman Michelle Ness, came within the first 13 minutes against the shell-shocked Braves, who had to play their district final on Monday because of lightning over the weekend.

With the victory, Suttons Bay (14-3-5) advances to face Ludington — a 1-0 winner over Lakeview in the second game — in Thursday's 7 p.m. regional final.

The Norse, who reached the semifinal in 2003, are in the regional final for the fifth straight time and the sixth in seven years. Ludington has knocked Suttons Bay out each of the last two seasons, including a 2-1 shootout triumph last year.

The drama was taken out of the Tawas game early, and that was just fine with Suttons Bay junior goalie Kelsey Wick.

"There's no pressure on a keeper when you score three quick goals," Wick said. "But it wasn't just that. I don't think there were more than two shots on goal. Our defense played phenomenal."

That was even more true in the second half as Suttons Bay made sure Tawas (17-6-1) didn't slip past the defense on the slippery field.

"Once the rain came it made the game sloppy," Suttons Bay coach Ryan DeFour said. "Even though I told them to keep attacking, they just wanted to get the job done, so they fell back a little bit."

Tawas coach Ken Cook said his team was a little back on its heels from the start after eliminating Gladwin the day before.

"It had a huge effect," he said. "We were tired and came out a little bit flat. They caught us off guard a little bit with a couple of their quick players. Our defense took some time to adjust to it.

"We had seven minutes of flat play where they scored three goals. If we could have got those seven minutes back, we could have at least kept the score down."

As it was, Tawas couldn't keep Suttons Bay's young scorers in check.

Sophomore Alyssa Korson got the first score for Suttons Bay just 4:20 into the contest when she knocked in the ball from up close off a corner kick from sophomore Charlotte Stowe.

"We have a lot of young talent," DeFour said. "The young girls are very, very talented and the seniors are good, too."

It's just that Suttons Bay doesn't have a lot of seniors on its team. Only four seniors and two juniors are on the roster.

Ness then delivered a pair of mirror-image goals, one with each foot, just over two minutes apart. Each came from about 15 yards away.

The first of Ness' goals came off the outside of her left foot and went off the left post and into the net. The second of her scores came off her right foot and again grazed the left post before going in.

Freshman Chelsea Moyer assisted on the first and Stowe, whom DeFour said had her "best game of the season," on the second. Stowe's assist was on a long crossing pass to Ness in the middle of the field.

"She got open and has a great first touch," DeFour said of Ness. "She's an unbelievable talent. If she brings the ball down, she can score the ball."

"She's a very strong player," Stowe added. "She cut through, went after the ball, took her chances and went after it."

While the three goals Suttons Bay scored in just over seven minutes was more than enough offense, the Norse could have put several more scores on the board if not for the play of Tawas keeper Ashley Krumm.

Krumm made several nice saves, two in the first half after wild scrambles in front of the net.

"We've got a good goalie," Cook said. "She thought that two of the three goals were her fault because she didn't come out there and challenge them.

"After that, she was fine."