Allen pushes South Lyon East girls soccer past rival South Lyon
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With 10 underclassmen on the roster, South Lyon East’s veterans must step up in clutch moments.
Junior Samantha Allen did just that in a 2-1 win over rival South Lyon on April 1.
The third-year varsity player scored the winning goal in the 73rd minute, giving the Cougars (1-0-1, 1-0-1) their first win and notching her first career goal.
“Samantha is a hell of a player,” coach Pete Stoyanovich said. “I think she played the whole game today, a full 80 minutes, and played with a lot of grit. She played a very, very tough game.”
In 34-degree temperatures and whipping winds, scoring chances were limited. The Cougars appeared in control after Lila Samluk played a ball into the box for Emma Quenby, whose goal made it 1-0 seven minutes into the second half.
But Natalie Henn, one of East’s top returning seniors, left with an ankle injury, and South Lyon (0-2-0, 0-2-0) capitalized. Lucie Harvey scored off a corner kick with just under eight minutes left.
Given the weather conditions and East’s inexperience, Stoyanovich expected a 1-1 finish. Which makes sense. At times, he played four freshmen at once, plus the Cougars had only two practices leading up to the match because of spring break last week. They don't necessarily have the chemistry together to pull-off last minute victories yet.
But Allen had other plans.
She took a pass down the far sideline, found an opening and lofted a shot over the keeper for the winner just 61 seconds after the tying goal.
“She’s a tough kid, a tough player,” Stoyanovich said. “She’s solid in the back, but she has no problem going forward either, and it showed with that goal at the end. This is her third year now, and she’s continuing to grow and get better every year. She’s a big asset to our team.”
Allen said the team felt panic after allowing the equalizer.
“We were down and not in our right mindset,” she said. “I just knew we needed something to get us going, so it was important we took the ball down and moved the ball.”
While she wasn’t surprised the Cougars rallied, she was shocked she was the one to push in the winning goal.
She was so overwhelmed by hugs afterward that it took her a moment to realize what she had likely won the match for her team. Especially considering scoring goals like that hasn’t been her role the past two seasons.
She’ll take it, though, given the challenges of leading a young roster she's faced so far this spring.
“With such a new team and a lot of young girls coming in, it’s been a lot trying to build from what we had last year, with losing so many seniors,” Allen said. “There’s a little bit of pressure there to lead the newer girls because, for them, it’s so different going from club to high school, where you play with all different ages. We’re just trying to teach the freshmen and sophomores to play with the older girls and adjust to the different speed and aggressiveness.”
Through two league games, the Cougars remain in contention for the LVC title. But growing pains are expected. No one really knows how their up-and-comers will fair once they start playing more experienced teams.
“I know what these girls are capable of, even though a lot of them are playing together for the first time,” Stoyanovich said. “We responded nicely, attacked and got a great finish. I don’t know what the expecation is this year because we’re so young, but I do know the future certainly looks bright.”
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: South Lyon East girls soccer beats South Lyon, 2-1