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  • Elk Rapids' Hailey Patterson, left, and Hart's Dominique VandenHeuval-Harjes fight for the ball Tuesday. Record-Eagle/Keith King

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June 6, 2012

Elks to play for regional title

Elk Rapids to meet West Michigan Christian for title

By MIKE ECKERT meckert@record-eagle.com

ELK RAPIDS — After Tuesday's regional semifinal, Elk Rapids coach Andrea Krakow reminded her seniors to not sleep the day away Wednesday.

While the group may be done with school, their soccer season lives on, thanks to a 2-0 home win over Hart in the Division 4 regional semifinal.

"I think the group I have now, I have four starters out of my six seniors, they know what I expect," Krakow said. "And they know if they don't take care of themselves, they're not going to play well. They realize the importance of a routine. And they've been on varsity for four years, so they've seen what can happen when kids hang out at the beach all day."

The Elks (16-4-2) will play Muskegon West Michigan Christian on Thursday for the regional title. The Warriors beat Glen Lake 2-1 in a shootout in Tuesday's second semifinal.

Elk Rapids got off to a good start and led 2-0 over Hart at halftime.

Marissa Rogers scored the first goal with 13 minutes to go in the first half. After a corner kick, the ball dribbled around the front of the goal before Rogers put it in the back of the net.

Then with 6 minutes left before the half, Megan Gregorski sailed a pass right in front of the goal and Robin Trierweiler sent it home for the 2-0 lead.

"Right place right time, good distribution, Krakow said.

Elk Rapids was still in control in the second half, but Krakow said the team made some mistakes they'll need to adjust in practice today.

What was working for the Elks, though, was the defense in preserving the shutout. Elks senior Maggie Marshall made 18 saves to post the win. Helping her was the defense from Katy Derks, Brittany Trout, Megan Henige and Mikaela Rogers.

"They had fast forwards," Krakow said. "When they had a through-ball or a breakaway, our defense had to work. But my core defense is finally back in, and it's been a long season to (get them) back. Every game up until tournament, we've had one of them out."

Late in the second half, Elk Rapids showed off the defensive unit as Hart's Macayla Greiner broke free, but Henige quickly swarmed her to avoid the threat.

"She was just out with an ankle injury, but she looked good tonight," Krakow said.

In the second semifinal, WMC jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first 3 minutes against Glen Lake (16-3-1). The Lakers, though, came back to tie the game with 5 minutes left before the break on a Logan Popp goal.

The 1-1 tie stayed through regulation and two overtimes before going to a shootout. There, the Warriors prevailed 3-2.

"They're a tough team," Lakers coach Meg Murphy said. "But we played our hearts out. We played with them the while way. We had 13 shots on goal. We played great soccer today, we just couldn't finish."

Sophie Ewing made 13 saves for Glen Lake. She's one of six seniors for the Lakers who have tallied a lot of wins over the last few seasons.

"They're a great group of girls and will be greatly missed," Murphy said.

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