BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
The regular season has ended and the Clarkston Girls Varsity Soccer team is aiming to go deep into the playoffs – beginning with their game at West Bloomfield on Thursday.
“We should be firing on all cylinders,” said Damian Huffer, head coach.
The Wolves closed last week with a tournament at Boyne and two wins at home against Farmington and Goodrich.
Senior Michaela Rodriguez scored nine minutes into the second half against Goodrich last Thursday for the Wolves lone goal in the 1-0 win.
“We knew they would play with a sweeper and a stopper so we pushed the fullbacks on and again eventually we create some good chances,” Huffer said, adding the players need to continue to work on converting more chances they are creating into goals.
The Wolves posted a 2-0 win over Farmington, May 14.
“The second half we made a few switches, played high pressure and pushed the fullbacks on,” Huffer said. “We made those switches and adjustments at half time and they barely got into the half. Then, we scored two good goals. It probably could have been three or four.”
Juniors Talia Scicluna and Caylee Ludwig scored the goals during the second half.
“Talia scored her first goal for the school and she’s been fantastic,” Huffer said. “She went down the left, sort of cut in and put it in the net.”
Sophomore Maddy Kujala assisted on Ludwig’s goal.
“It was a decent pass from Maddy,” Huffer added.
The Wolves finished with ties against Berkley and Davison the week prior.
Rodriguez scored the first goal off a free kick against Berkley on May 9, before the Bears scored to take the lead, 2-1.
Ludwig tied the game with a 25-yard shot into the top corner of the next.
The following night the Wolves and Davison finished with a 1-1 tie. Rodriguez scored the lone goal off Ludwig’s rebound shot on the net for Clarkston with 21-42 remaining in the first half.
“We pretty much controlled the first half,” said Huffer. “They didn’t have a lot of chances.”
The Cardinals had a shot to tie off a penalty kick nine minutes into the second half.
“We just need to make sure when we have the dominant periods where we control the game we just need to make sure we convert dominance into goals. we are not converting as many chances as we should. The good thing is they are playing with plenty of chances we just have to take a few more and see games out.”
Clarkston sophomore goalie Rachel Tanielian was ready for the one-on-one shot and stopped the ball right in the middle.
Davison tied the game with a header into the back of the net by Kiera Kuzinski.
“Both games we played well,” Huffer said. “Again it’s little lapses here and there. They have been playing well. The girls have been fantastic. The way our luck has been going with these games then all the sudden an error or lapse in concentration and we end up tying a game we were controlling.”
The Wolves play the first round of the MHSAA Girls Soccer District 15 playoffs at West Bloomfield against the Lakers on Thursday, 7 p.m.

  Clarkston Girls Varsity Soccer, Soccer