Troy Soccer Opens Playoffs With 3-1 Win Over Adams

This one was for bragging rights.

The Troy and Adams varsity boys soccer team met for the third time this season on Monday night in the first round of the district playoffs. The Oakland Activities Association Red division foes split their regular season series in two fiercely competitive games.   

Monday’s match at didn’t disappoint. The teams kept the tempo up in a very physical game.

Adams landed the first punch with a goal in the first 15 seconds, but after the Colts settled down they were able to take control and advance to the second round of the playoffs with a 3-1 win.

“We had good composure and we did a good job of sticking to the game plan and not get rattled from that (first goal),” Troy Head Coach Brian Zawislak said.

Highlanders junior Alex Tzonev scored in the opening seconds on what Zawislak called an “amazing shot.” Tzonev unloaded a good 20 yards outside the goal box to put his team up 1-0.

“We had 79 minutes to go, plenty of time to get a few back,” Colts senior Jason Leslie said.

And they did. Filip Buniewicz tied the game up with 29:48 left in the first half. The senior quickly worked the ball up the field on the right sideline and was able score on a shot across his body.

It didn’t take long for teammate A.J. Kalina to put Troy (16-2-1) in the lead. Kalina was able to get his head on a free-kick from teammate Zach Doepke to put the Colts up 2-1 with 25:12 left in the half.

Adams coach Josh Hickey didn’t think his team kept up the intensity after the early goal.

“You come out with that intensity the whole game or you don’t,” Hickey said. “I felt like we had some lapses where we gave them too much room. When you get behind it’s really hard to come back on that.”

Then Adams suffered some bad luck before half time when starting goalie Spencer Ward was injured on a collision with a teammate. Ward and a defender were collapsing in on a Troy forward, but didn’t see each other. The freshman goaltender hit the ground hard.

About a minute later Hickey and his coaching staff noticed that Ward was woozy in goal and asked the referees to stop play. Ward was helped off the field and didn’t return.

In the second half, Troy kept up the pressure and made sure the Highlanders didn’t have a lot of offensive opportunities. The Colts added an insurance goal when Leslie lofted a shot over back-up Grant Gibson’s head.

“This was definitely a tough game,” Leslie said. “That was the third time we played them, they are a great team and a great program. It was a very tough game and we were fortunate to come out on top.”

Troy will host Waterford Mott in the district semifinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Mott beat West Bloomfield on Monday in a shootout. The winner will play either Brother Rice or Seaholm in the finals on Friday at 5 p.m.

Notes: Many Troy players were sporting mohawks for the game in a show of solidarity while the Adams players sported bleached blond hair.

“It’s just something we’ve always done, every playoffs,” Leslie said. “It’s good team bonding, we actually do it ourselves. There’s that trust factor, you don’t want to mess up someone’s hair.”