BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Kickers knocked West Bloomfield out of playoffs with a 2-1 win in the MHSAA Division 1 Boys Soccer District 15 Quarterfinal game last Friday at Clarkston High School.
The Clarkston Boys Varsity Soccer team sealed the win off a goal from sophomore Jacob Murray with an assist from freshman Richie Ludwig with 28 minutes remaining in the game.
Wolf goalie junior Brendan Willis kept the Lakers at bay blocking the close attempts on the net.
The Wolves held onto control of the ball in West Bloomfield’s turf as they opened the game.
The control paid off and soon Ludwig set up for a corner kick 14 minutes in and senior Ethan Wise finished the play, putting the ball into the net to gain a 1-0 lead.
Head Coach Ian Jones said it was a good game – as all the players worked together. Though he did see some things didn’t work out at times.
“It’s a playoff game,” said Jones. “It can’t always be as free flowing. You have to control the game. We did for the most part, but if you don’t score enough and allow the other team to score you have to play direct. The game becomes broken. I felt like we were going to win. They don’t want to lose.”

He added the boys can learn from it but noted playoff games are like that unless a team gets a quick lead.
“You have to do what you do well which we keep the ball well, we pass the ball well which we did at times tonight,” Jones said. “We did it enough to not let them have an opportunity to play from too deep. If we gave it away, we gave it away in their half.”
He noted freshman Connor Laming, sophomore Nathan Thomas, senior Colin Slunik and Wise stood out.
“Colin was calm and composed. Nathan got up and down really well. Connor was solid in the back and Ethan worked hard. He had two players on him at a time,” Jones said.
The Wolves continued their playoff run against Walled Lake Northern on Tuesday in the district semifinals, and won the game 1-0 with the lone goal from Owen Dollins with an assist from Wise.
“You’ve got to take each team as they come,” Jones said, adding they didn’t play them during the season.
The district championship is on Thursday at Waterford Kettering High School, 5:30 p.m.
The winner moves on to the regional 4 semifinal on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at West Bloomfield.

  Clarkston Boys Varsity Soccer, district playoffs, Soccer