St. Clair girls soccer blanks Lake Shore to capture district championship

EAST CHINA — For the third time this season, the St. Clair girls soccer team took on St. Clair Shores Lake Shore. The stakes were higher, the weather was warmer and the crowd was bigger.

But the result didn't change.

The Saints dominated the Shorians, 2-0, in a Division 2 district final at East China Stadium on Thursday night.

Kennedy Hollerbach and Mya Freeland each scored goals for St. Clair, which improved to 15-3-2 and won its second district title in as many years. The Saints will face Bloomfield Hills Marian in a regional semifinal at DCCA Complex in Dearborn on Tuesday.

"It feels great," Hollerbach said. "We've worked so hard this entire season, played some tough games and just put in all the effort so we could to win this."

"We came in undefeated in the (MAC Blue)," junior Ella Farkas said. "I feel like we deserved this."

"It feels pretty good to be district champs again," Freeland said. "It's because of our effort — that's how we got here. I'm excited and I know the rest of the team is too."

St. Clair won the first two meetings against Lake Shore by scores of 1-0 and 4-0, respectively. The rubber match followed that same pattern.

"I knew Lake Shore would come out and play us hard today," said St. Clair coach Cliff Freeland, who is also Mya's dad. "Winning a third time is always difficult."

From the start, much of the action took place in the Shorians' side of the field. St. Clair's precise passing helped it cut deep into Lake Shore territory. The Saints struggled to generate clean shots at first, but they were persistent in their attack. And eventually it paid off.

With 6:23 left before halftime, Hollerbach redirected a cross from Tara Malone into the lower right corner of the net. That broke the scoreless tie and put the Saints in front.

"We practice that all the time," Hollerbach said. "We've also learned to attack the ball out of the air. So I hit it and I hoped for the best."

"We're a momentum team," Cliff Freeland said. "So I think we got that first (goal), took a deep breath and then we just started playing better soccer."

"We stopped bombing the ball up the field and we found feet to pass it to," Farkas said. "Then once we found feet we got the second goal."

Mya Freeland scored on a breakaway to ice the game with 3:30 remaining. She used a quick hesitation move to get the goalie to bite and then slipped the ball past her.

"After halftime our communication got so much better," Mya Freeland said. "I think that's the reason that we were able to shut them out is that communication defensively."

St. Clair celebrated with its student section on the field after the game. The Saints are going to enjoy this one, but they'll soon shift focus to their next challenge.

"We had three big goals this year," Cliff Freeland said. "One was (to win) a league title, one was (to win) a district and we want to go knock off the four-time state champs next week."

That would be Marian, which beat St. Clair 5-0 in a regional final last year. But the variables are a bit different this time around. Tuesday's matchup will take place on a turf field.

"We played them on grass (last season)," Mya Freeland said. "Playing on grass is much different than playing on turf. I think our team is better on turf. But I'm also excited because we know more about their style and how to defend them better."

"We know what to expect this time," Cliff Freeland said. "I think we'll give them all they can handle."

Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: St. Clair girls soccer blanks Lake Shore to capture district title