Girl’s Varsity Soccer sprints to state semifinals

Junior Paige Duda fights for the ball against a Grand Blanc player in a regional championship game.

David Dalton

Junior Paige Duda fights for the ball against a Grand Blanc player in a regional championship game.

Varsity Girl’s Soccer clawed, sprinted, and triumphed at their Division 1 girls soccer regional final at Rochester High School.

The team generated three goals before the four-minute mark of both halves and rolled to a 4-1 win over Grand Blanc.

“Scoring two goals that early is always a plus, but everybody knows that can be very dangerous,” Eisenhower coach Mehrdad Nekoogar said.

The team has now officially punched their ticket back to the state semifinals where they hope to avenge their 3-2 overtime loss to Portage Central in 2009.

Eisenhower captured  first-half goals from Isabella Palazzolo and Jillian Doss, while Paige Duda scored twice in the second half. Samantha Dunn, Jillian Doss and Shannon Casey had assists and keeper Bianca Koupparis made five saves.

Annie Walker had Grand Blanc’s only goal.

The fourth-ranked  team will face MAC Red Division rival Ford in a state semifinal game Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at West Bloomfield. The Falcons beat the Blue Devils 1-0 in a battle to reach the final four.

The Division 1 championship game will be played at Williamston on Saturday, June 14, at noon.