Chiefs Blank Pioneers, Advance to Regional Final

The Canton Chiefs advanced to Friday’s MHSAA regional soccer final with a 4-0 win over Dearborn Tuesday at Saline High School.

Megan Trapp converted a corner kick 16 minutes into the game to give Canton a 1-0 lead and the Chiefs never looked back.

Alexandria Dryden scored just a few minutes later and Allyson Krause scored before the end of the first half to give Canton a 3-0 lead. Taylor Dalian completed the scoring in the second half.

Canton head coach Jeannine Reddy said her team lacked intensity early.

“We picked up after about 10 or 15 minutes and started shooting,” said Reddy.

Dearborn coach Armen Alabakoff said he knew his team was in for a tough game.

“We wanted to beat these guys, but what the heck, they beat Northville, man. We tried wanted to tie them up and then try to score on the counter,” said Alabakoff.

The Pioneers did that fairly well for the game’s first 15 minutes.

“We didn’t want to give them corners. We gave them one and that’s how they scored their first goal,” Alabakoff said.

The Pioneers will graduate 12 seniors. Alabakoff said the seniors have every reason to be proud of what they accomplished.

“Things didn’t start so well for us this year. But we wound up winning our league and winning our district,” he said. “If you look at where we started and where we finished, I think we had a really nice turnaround. I’m proud of the way this team battled.”

Canton moves on to face Saline at 7 p.m. in the regional final. The Hornets defeated Livonia Franklin 5-0 in Tuesday’s other regional semi-final.

Saline and Canton tied 1-1 when they played early in the season.

The Chiefs have been riding high since upsetting the highly ranked Northville team in the district tournament. Reddy said there’s not much left to do at this point in the season.

“I tell the girls to go out, have fun, play together and stay positive. Whatever happens, happens. We’ve worked hard to get this far, so don’t give up,” said Reddy.

Kaitlyn Jatczak played in goal for the Chiefs. Danielle Schendel, the team’s starter, was injured in the Northville game and is expected to return to action Friday.