For the first half, the Freeland girls soccer team showed that it belonged in the state semifinal, as it took a scoreless 0-0 tie into halftime against perennial Division 3 power Detroit Country Day.
The Yellowjackets, though, quickly took control of the game in the second half. Freshman Dagny Hill put Country Day on the board just 3:21 into the half by sending a volley from inside the box past Freeland keeper Hannah Foy.
A little more than a minute later, Country Day struck again, as senior Michelle Manning connected with sophomore Sonja Niederhofer on a long pass from midfield. Niederhofer beat both defenders to the ball and raced in on goal before flicking the ball over Foy and into the net.
Freshman Olivia Heppard extended the Yellowjacket lead to 3-0 with 27:14 left after a Freeland defender cleared the ball away from the net right to her. Heppard’s shot from 30 yards out sailed over Foy’s head and bounced under the crossbar for a goal.
Country Day advanced to the Division 3 final but lost to Unity Chirstian 3-1 in the championship game.
Despite the second half barrage, Freeland first-year coach Lauren DeRoo couldn’t be prouder of what the Falcons accomplished this season. “I was a first-year coach that got the job four days before tryouts,” she said. “We’re going to build on this. We expect to be back. That’s our goal.”
DeRoo opened the game with a strategy that surprised the Yellowjackets. She started her best offensive player, junior Taryn Taugher, on defense, giving Freeland a different look. For one half, the strategy worked.
“She’s a strong player, an aggressive player,” DeRoo said. “We were hoping to stop them and get one in on a counterattack. We knew what we were up against. We were facing a team of recruited athletes. We have pure athletes.”
Taugher said she was up for the challenge. “It’s the first time I’ve played defense,” she said. “Whatever helps the team, I’ll do. They are a physical team. We came out in the first half ready to go.”
The second half was a different story, however. “They found the weakness and exploited it. They found the gap between the sweeper and the stopper. They took advantage of it.”
The Falcons lose three seniors — Marina Palomarez, Kelsey Ropp, and Macey Miller — from a team that made Freeland girls’ soccer history as the first team to reach the state semifinal. To get there, Freeland defeated Cheboygan in a shootout and Frankenmuth 2-0 in the regional final.
DeRoo hopes the extra familiarity will pay off next season with a veteran group returning.