NEW BALTIMORE - After a regular season of inconsistency, Macomb Dakota jacked it up a level in its state tournament opener.
Dakota netted a season-high five goals and walked off the pitch Thursday at Anchor Bay with a resounding 5-0 shutout of Harrison Township L'Anse Creuse in a Division 1 pre-district contest.
Dakota has been outscored 25-18 this season, so seeing its offense come alive was a welcomed event, according to coach Stefano Moraccini. The Cougars were also shut out seven times this season.
That wasn't the case this time around.
"We did score five. And you know what? We should've scored a lot more," noted Moraccini, who celebrated a birthday Thursday. "We had our chances. Now hats off to their goalkeeper (Wesley Johns). He made some terrific saves, especially early in the game to keep it somewhat close. I know we pulled away a little bit in the second half, which was nice to see. But if he doesn't make some saves we are up 5-0, 6-0 at half."
Dakota wasted no time getting off on the right foot. In fact, the Cougars (6-9-1) came out of the gate in attack mode, scoring twice in the first six minutes and coasted to the five-goal outburst.
Dakota's previous season-high for goals was three in a 3-1 win over Anchor Bay back on Sept. 8.
The Cougars scored first with 37:20 left in the opening half on just their first shot on goal. Gavin Juncaj blasted home a shot into the back of the net after a cross from Joey Muller.
Less than three minutes later, Dakota scored again with 34:36 remaining in the first half when Renato Lekaj set up Juncaj for his second tally of the afternoon.
Dakota, which held a 13-0 shots advantage in the first half, tacked on a third goal before the break. Muller intercepted a pass-back and finished a breakaway opportunity with 14:59 to go in the first half for the three-goal cushion.
In the second half, it was more of the same for Dakota, which controlled play for most of the 80 minutes. Defensively, the Cougars only allowed two second-half shot attempts - the first with 20 minutes to go on a chip shot way above the crossbar. The second shot actually reached starting goalkeeper Daniel Stevenson, who scooped up a slow-rolling shot.
On the offensive end, Juncaj gained the hat trick as he scored his third goal of the game off a pass from Ryan Wistuba with 17:37 to go, while Lekaj took a diagonal pass from Jaymes Gavel near the top of the 18 and sent a laser into the far post from the opposite corner of the box with 14:14 remaining.
"It was nice to finally get our offense going," noted Moraccini. "Scoring goals - we've had chances all season long - but we don't score a ton. Sometimes, we dribble too much."
Dakota will face Macomb L'Anse Creuse North in the district semifinals Oct. 14 at 6 p.m., also at Anchor Bay. LCN has won 15 straight and defeated Dakota 4-0 back on Sept. 5.
"We know they are a good team. They already beat us. We were missing I think six starters in that game," said Moraccini of L'Anse Creuse North. "We had injuries, but that's no excuse. They beat us up pretty good. They are a talented team with some nice players. They will be difficult to beat."
Dakota outshot L'Anse Creuse by a 23-2 margin, including 14-1 with shots on goal, and even held a 3-1 advantage off corner kicks.
L'Anse Creuse had some struggles this season scoring goals, as the Lancers finished 4-9-3 overall and were outscored 33-21. L'Anse Creuse collected four clean sheets but were blanked six times this season, including the district loss Thursday.
"We are young and we had injuries like everyone else. We had some nice wins early in the season, but we struggled putting balls into the back of the net," offered L'Anse Creuse coach William McClellan. "Sometimes that's soccer. The boys worked hard all season and the one thing we look for is progress. I thought some of the players did get better as the season moved along. But we just didn't score a ton of goals and we're young. When you play a bunch of really good teams, that hurt us in some games."