Late surge fuels St. Clair girls soccer past Grosse Pointe North and into district final

EAST CHINA — There's a point in every game when the St. Clair girls soccer team finds its second wind.

It was true in the regular season. Now it's true in the postseason.

"For some reason this team — when it gets down to the last 15-20 minutes — they bring it," St. Clair coach Cliff Freeland said. "And they brought it."

The Saints pulled away late from Grosse Pointe North, 3-1, in a Division 2 district semifinal at East China Stadium on Tuesday night.

Tori Malone scored two goals (including the game-winner) for St. Clair, which improved to 14-3-2 and advanced to Thursday's district final against St. Clair Shores Lake Shore.

"It's like something clicks in the second half," Freeland said. "So I never doubted us. This team can score goals in bunches. As long as we play hard I think we're in every game."

"With the pressure and everything, it kind of encourages us," said midfielder Mya Freeland said, who is also Cliff's daughter. "Especially with the fans here watching us. That encouraged us to do better."

After a delayed start to the earlier district semifinal, the Saints and Noresmen kicked off 65 minutes later than originally scheduled. But that had no impact on the MAC rivals, as both teams came out with a purpose.

St. Clair struck first on a Malone goal at the 28:33 mark of the opening half. The lead was short-lived, however, as Grosse Pointe North tied it just 35 seconds later. 

"I really felt at the 1-1 point that if we got aggressive in the second half, I thought we could win," Cliff Freeland said. "I thought we were the better team."

The Saints controlled the tempo and the ball for much of the second half. They generated quality scoring chances and had a few shots clang off the posts.

Both goalies were superb. But Grosse Pointe North lost its starting netminder to injury with 4:23 left in regulation. While the Norsemen held on to force overtime, the Saints quickly dialed up their aggression.

"For me, when I go into my second gear, I want to play for my team," Mya Freeland said. "I want to win for my team. And I think that's the same with all the girls. When it comes down to it and we're tied like that, they're going to do whatever they can for the team to win."

St. Clair only needed 72 seconds of overtime to break through. That's when Malone directed a rebound off her head and into the net.

"I'm always the one that's right there after any kind of rebound," Malone said. "I saw it hit the crossbar and it was just right place, right time. We practice that a lot."

"We always say, 'Attack the ball violently,' " Cliff Freeland said. "And if you watched (Malone), she attacked it violently. The goalie didn't have a chance."

Grosse Pointe North's chances all but dried up in the second overtime when Claire Freeland scored with 8:28 remaining to give the Saints a 3-1 cushion. St. Clair goalie Abigail Perry made several point-blank saves to seal the victory.

"I'm just proud of how hard everyone worked," Mya Freeland said. "We all play for each other and we all wanted this."

"We run through walls for each other every game," Malone said. "It showed in this game."

The Saints will run into a familiar opponent on Thursday when they face the Shorians. St. Clair is 2-0 against Lake Shore this season.

"We beat them 1-0 and then we beat them 4-0," Cliff Freeland said. "If we spread them out and play our style of soccer, I'm very confident in what the outcome will be."

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