April 19, 2024 Gabriela Emelian, wearing a Huron white jersey, tries to maintain possession in midfield while being pressured by Divine Child's Steph Crowley during the first half of a non-league tilt. Emelian's hat trick moved Chiefs into fourth place. 0 wins against the local Falcons. (Samantha Elliott — MediaNews Group)
DEARBORN – It was a chilly spring night Friday when the New Boston Huron native Chiefs headed to Dearborn Divine Child for a nonleague game.
The visitors left town with a 4-0 win over the host Falcons, led by a hat trick from Gabriela Emelian.
“They came in and performed exactly what I expected them to do,” Huron coach Matt Lividini said. “A little bit in the second half we started to play more aggressively, in (Divine Child) style. But as soon as the girls pulled the game back and got the ball back under control, we had to deal with it. I dealt with all the things that were there.”
Photo Gallery: Women's Soccer – New Boston Huron vs. Dearborn Divine Child
Three goals in 13 minutes gave Huron a comfortable lead that eventually took them into the first half. The first goal came just over 10 minutes into the evening, when Ava Vanco scored what would become the winning goal with a direct kick over the wall of Divine Child defenders.
Five minutes later, Emelian spun and took the kick directly to score the first of three consecutive goals. The junior fought his way through traffic and scored his second goal of the first half with just under 17 minutes left before intermission. The lead at halftime was 0.
Even as the teams battled into the second half, the score remained calm for nearly 40 minutes. Emelian completed her hat trick with a fling wide to the left past Falcon goaltender Samira Jeiraish with 17:30 left in the game.
The three-goal performance was Emelian's second hat trick in three days.
“Credit to Huron because they're the better team and they beat us for 80 minutes today,” Divine Child coach Robert Grayden said. “We didn't play very well and unfortunately I don't think we were fully prepared. That's the fault of the coaching staff.”
Friday will be the Falcons' third game in four days this week, but Greenden said the team still needs to prepare.
“I don't want to make excuses,” Garden said. “But if I'm going to make excuses, I'm going to let the coaching staff make excuses. But again, credit to Huron. They were the better team.”
With this win, the Chiefs improved to 4-0-1 on the season, with all four wins coming in shutouts.
“Weeks before the playoffs, I think we're well on our way to where we want to be,” Lividini said. “We're preparing to be in the top eight in the state and that's the style they're playing right now.
“I think we are well on our way in the direction we want to go.”
Five games into their spring season spurt, the Falcons currently have a record of 2 wins and 3 losses.
After graduating 12 seniors last year, Green sees four freshmen and three sophomores making big plays every night.
“This team is young and still learning,” he said. “That will take time and our goal is to be ready by then.
“I'm going to spend my last day preparing until (the MHSAA postseason) gets here.”
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The schedule couldn't get any easier for Divine Child, who will play three more straight matches starting next week.
The Falcons will host Bloomfield Hills Marian, No. 1 in the Division 2 standings and longtime Catholic League rival, for the first time on Tuesday, April 23rd, before hosting Allen Park and Madison Heights on consecutive days on April 26th and 27th. – Visit Bishop Foley.
“Allen Park is a team in our district,” Garden said. “So it’s going to be an important game for us to get ready for districts and get ready for the state tournament.”
Huron stays busy next week with three contests.
The Chiefs will host Riverview and Jefferson in Huron League play on April 22 and 24, respectively, before leaving the conference and traveling to Father Gabriel Richard in Ann Arbor on April 25.
