Country Day Girls Soccer Falls 2-1 to Flint Powers In Semifinals

WILLIAMSTON – One shot is all it takes.

The Detroit Country Day varsity girls soccer team found that out the hard way in the Division 3 semifinals on Wednesday night against Flint Powers at Williamston.

Brittany Tenis’ quick strike with less than three minutes left in the game gave the Chargers a 2-1 win. The goal spoiled a second half controlled almost entirely by Country Day (21-5).

“I think we were the better team in the second half,” Country Day coach Bob Bukari said. “We had the majority of play. They counter with one shot and the ball is in the net. Game over.”

His players walked off the field visibly upset after the loss, with goalie Rachel Bergman in tears. The junior let the game winner get past her in the final minutes and struggled to contain her emotions.

But the way the play developed made the save nearly impossible. The ball was deflected to Tenis about 15 feet from the net, leaving the defense little time to recover.

“As soon as I got the ball I saw there was two people and they had a gap between them,” Tenis said. “So I took it, in between them. The goalie was in the middle, so I made sure to tuck in to the far post and it worked.”

The surprise on the Yellowjacket faces after the goal was understandable considering the team dominated most of the second half. The girls had more possession time and more corner kicks, and were more aggressive with loose balls.

Bukari said the Yellowjackets should have been just as aggressive attacking the net. It rained throughout the night and wet field conditions make it difficult on goalies trying to make saves with their hands.

“Nobody wanted to pull the trigger,” Bukari said. “We were trying to make the fancy pass, the pass that would get someone in (closer to the goal). We just needed to shoot the ball more. We should have peppered that goal keeper, especially with the wet field, from 35 (feet) out and just kept skipping the ball at her.”

Even Flint Powers coach Art Moody thought the second half played out to Country Day’s favor.

“The last 10 to 15 minutes I was scared, they were putting a lot of pressure on us,” Moody said.

The only goal scored by Country Day in the game was by freshman Michelle Manning. She tied the game 1-1 with an assist from Maggie Keiffer. Keiffer had a free kick just inside midfield, setting up Manning on the opposite side of the net with only 4:22 left in the first half.

It was the only real highlight of the opening 40 minutes for Country Day.

“We didn’t come out to play in the first half,” Bukari said. “We were lucky to tie it.”

The girls looked nervous to start the game. Flint Powers freshman Morgan Mckerchie had a pair of shots almost go in during the first 20 minutes and then she set up the first goal of the game to Addisen Carino at 19:31.

Country Day used halftime to regroup.

“Maybe getting yelled at half time (calmed them down)?” Bukari said, laughing. “But we woke up at half time, something woke them up and they decided to come out and play hard. We busted through numerous times (but) just couldn’t get in the net. We had more corners in the second half.”

Bukari was disappointed not to be going to the finals at Michigan State University on Saturday, but he isn’t disappointed in the state of Country Day’s program. The Yellowjackets only graduate three seniors this year and have as many freshman as they do juniors.

Bukari likened this year’s playoff experience to a group of students learning in a classroom. Next year they’ll be able to draw from the games and have a better understanding of playing games under a lot of pressure.

“We’re a young team,” Bukari said.  “I’m hoping they learn from it.  We’ll be back.”