In 35 years of coaching at Lake Orion, girls soccer coach Ken Snage has seen his share of barnburners when the Dragons face off with Clarkston. With the Wolves making a guest appearance at Lake Orion May 21, the teams didn’t disappoint.
The Wolves kicked it up a notch for the rivalry, and the game wasn’t won until it was over, literally.
Lake Orion’s Ashley Poirier took a feed in front of the Clarkston net with 57 seconds left in the game and beat Clarkston keeper Demaree Wells for the 2-1 win.
Poirier took the feed from Niki Read in a crowd in front of the Clarkston keeper.
‘We kept coming at Clarkston and the Wolves just kept punching back and it was a good Clarkston-Orion game. It was a battle on the field and there was a lot of hard play. Both teams bring the best out of each other,? Snage said.
‘Finally we got a break and the ball got to one of our open girls and she put it in the net.
‘There were a bunch of kids in front of the net and the ball got onto Poirier’s foot on the far post and she (kicked) it home. It was really a senior play.?
Clarkston and Lake Orion (8-7-4) are a division apart in the Oakland Activities Association grouping, but it didn’t show out on the soccer field.
‘They’ve got two good goalies and they’re a great team. They’re just going to keep getting better. They gave us fits. We play in a tough OAA I league and Clarkston is as tough as any team we’ve played all year,? Snage said.
‘Our kids and Clarkston’s kids felt that game counted, because they played hard against each other. They battled out there and it never surprises me. Clarkton always has good programs and good sports, just like Orion and the two towns, no matter what the game is, they go at it pretty good,? Snage said.
‘I’ll bet if they had shuffleboard, it would be a pretty good go.?
Clarkston was scheduled to open the district playoffs at Waterford Kettering (played at Pierce Middle School) Tuesday afternoon. Also Tuesday, Lake Orion was scheduled to open play at Pontiac Northern for its opening round.