By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com
INDEPENDENCE TWP. — The Clarkston Girls Varsity Soccer team faced their first tests of the season last week against Rochester, Berkley and White Lake Lakeland.
“The performances were good,” said Damian Huffer, head coach. “I don’t think the results did them justice.”
The Wolves opened the season hosting Rochester in a 3-0 loss, April 1.
“They looked sharp against Rochester,” said Huffer. “We played really well against a very good, well-coached team. They are one of the strongest teams around this area. It was the first game, happy with the level of performance.”
He added Clarkston graduated 13 seniors last year and have a good mix of returners and new players on this season’s team including two freshmen, Elena Catinella and Corryn Niemi.
“They are solid,” he said. “We have added Molly Lobate, who has added a lot to the team. She’s been a good addition as well.”

They tied against Berkley at home last Thursday, 2-2, with both goals scored by Labate.
“It was a bit of a scrappy game,” said Huffer. “They were very difficult to play against at times because there were playing a 5-4-1 formation – having 9-10 bodies behind the ball and leaving one person in the front, making it really hard for us to play through or break them down with any real consistency.”
Clarkston responded by changing formation.
“It gave us more balance going forward,” Huffer said. “I knew we couldn’t play through them so we had to be more direct and get behind it more. It got us back in the game with a great kick from Molly from 20-30 yards out into the box.”
The Wolves won their first game on Saturday with a 2-0 shutout against White Lake Lakeland. Labate scored both goals in the win.
Clarkston (1-1-1) opened the week against Royal Oak (1-0) in a OAA White League game on Tuesday.
“Royal Oak was good last year,” Huffer said. “They are a decent team. They haven’t graduated many players. It’s a OAA White game and that division is competitive. It should be another good test against a good team.”
The Wolves host Birmingham Groves on Thursday.
“Groves is a lot like Royal Oak,” Huffer said. “It will be a hard team to break down.”
The Wolves host Birmingham Seaholm on Tuesday, April 15.
“A lot of good interesting games coming up that will hopefully bring out the best in the girls,” Huffer said, adding as the team continues to improve the results will take care of themselves.
JV plays at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows.

  Clarkston Athletics, Girls Soccer