Cranbrook defeats St. Mary's for third time this season to win district title

AUBURN HILLS – Most of the Cranbrook-Kingswood players who took the field Thursday night know all too well how difficult it is to beat the same team three times in a season.

Last fall, the Cranes lost twice to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in the regular season and then defeated the Eaglets 3-0 to capture the district championship.

This year, Cranbrook won both games before the postseason, and its players were all too aware of how difficult it would be to avoid falling victim to that identical pattern when the two teams played each other in the same phase of the postseason for the second time in a row .

“The people that were here last year, which is most of us, knew that we felt a lot of anger and a lot of determination in this game last year, and last year we ended up winning,” Cranbrook-Senior said Paul Said Lee. “We knew they were going to compete with the same intensity and that we had to play really, really well to get the win.”

The Cranes earned their elusive third victory over St. Mary’s on Thursday night at Avondale High School, winning 1-0 to win their third straight district championship.

However, it was new territory for first-year head coach Jacob Nunner, who prior to his stint at Michigan was familiar with standing between the posts with Warren De La Salle in the CHSL.

“It’s fantastic,” Nunner said. “An incredible feeling. This school was so welcoming. I’m surrounded by great people, I have a great AD, a fantastic coaching staff and players. We worked. Kudos to these guys, they deserve it. Whether it’s in the gym, on the field or in the film room, they’ve been working hard and it’s just nice to see all that work pay off in something tangible.”

In a game full of chances arising from set pieces, it was only fitting that the only ball to cross the line came from such a player. With 18:07 minutes remaining in the first half, Cranbrook won a long free kick, possibly deflected off an opposition player after being served by Lee, and could not be stopped from going in despite a long effort from the St Mary’s goalkeeper Mason Lanfear.

“We rehearse a lot of different types of set pieces in training, so it was fantastic to see them executed in training and then here,” Nunner said. “You want it whipped and driven in and of course sometimes bad things happen when you take the serve into the box. I think one of their defenders may have made a mistake. We needed it. It was great for our momentum.”

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s freshman goaltender Mason Lanfear (1) knocks down a shot attempt late in Thursday’s D2 district final against Cranbrook-Kingswood in Auburn Hills. (BRYAN EVERSON-MediaNews Group)

Lee added: “I just tried to hit it in a dangerous area. I didn’t even see what happened; I thought my teammate shot it.”

St Mary’s were direct and in control of possession in the first 10 minutes before both teams began to create chances as the half progressed. Lanfear had to move far from his line and withstand heavy contact to fend off an attack, then the Eaglets created a nervy moment through a corner kick just minutes before Cranbrook scored.

The Eaglets were perhaps unlucky that they didn’t come out of the break on par with their performances in the final two minutes, including Gab Richer’s pass from near the end line that skittered across the goal but didn’t hit a teammate.

“I thought we had a good game plan and stuck to the game plan,” St. Mary’s head coach Keith Jeffrey said. “Our work pace was good. We knew we had to match their intensity because this is a team that is well trained and plays with intensity. And we actually created a lot. I thought we were unlucky to be 1-0 down at half-time, but at the end of the day that’s how it is sometimes.

“We knew they were very well organized. They have a great central defender in Paul. (Senior Milo Kiezun) very effective, he is the core for them. We wanted to make it difficult for them and then try to hit some dangerous balls in… We tried to (make changes and) give them a different look, made some adjustments, and they made some adjustments. Here too I thought we had chances, corners and free kicks. I thought we could hit a few more diagonal balls into the box, but they found a way to defend and get the balls out.”

After some big moments in the first 40 minutes, Cranbrook managed to contain the Eaglets for much of the second half. The best chance came in the final minutes when Lanfear was called into action again, executing a shot attempt with his right hand while elevated and then having to fend off the continued attack as he hit the ground to give the Eaglets one At the other end it was a draw, but the St Mary’s attack failed to create a first-class chance before time expired.

Photo gallery of Cranbrook vs. OLSM in the Division 2 boys soccer district championship

St. Mary’s, which beat Holly and Waterford Kettering 2-1 each to reach Thursday’s final, finishes the season with a 9-11 record.

“I think our team was very dangerous and very competitive,” Jeffrey said. “You take away the record – we lost a lot of games in the last five minutes of the game, once again very unfortunate. But the team competed and performed every day. I have a lot of returnees. “We are still young, the goalkeeper is a newcomer, we will bring back two captains. The future is bright, man.

Cranbrook defeated Avondale and Brother Rice to reach Thursday’s district final. The Cranes (10-5-1) now have a few days off to prepare for fifth-seeded Mason next Wednesday in Goodrich.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Nunner said. “We will be ready for it.”

Cranbrook defeats St. Mary’s for third time this season to win district title – The Oakland Press

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