Clemence, Chase lead Fremont into Division 3 soccer district title game with victory over Whitehall

 

MANISTEE — Fremont juniors Mia Clemence and Riley Chase each recorded a three-goal hat trick as the Packers pulled away from a close first half and defeated Whitehall, 7-1, on Wednesday.

 

The game was an MHSAA Division 3 district semifinal in Manistee.

 

In the nightcap of the semifinal doubleheader, Montague (12-6-2) defeated Hart, 6-1, to earn a spot alongside the Packers in the 7 p.m Friday district title game.

 

The Packers took a 1-0 lead with 18:45 left in the first half when Clemence collected her first goal of the night.

 

But the Vikings quickly struck back, as senior Ava Garcia converted a smart pass from sophomore Kate Beda to knot the score, 1-all at the 17:04 mark.

 

Fremont answered, with Clemence burying a shot from 10 yards out after controlling a pass from Taylor DeKuiper to give the Packers a 2-1 lead at the half.

 

“On the scoreboard they were up 2-1, but if you looked at much possession was on the field we were actually winning the game,” said Whitehall coach Adam Prince. “It looked like we were dominating the midfield, and we had all the 50-50 balls. We were beating them to most of the stuff, and I thought ‘This is great. We have the wind at our backs the second half.’ All of a sudden they got that one little spurt and we just couldn’t rebound.”

 

Fremont finished with a run of five unanswered goals in the second half, while managing to dodge a couple of bullets on defense.

 

McKenna Scott, another junior, contributed a single goal to the Packers’ total. Clemence and sophomore Maddie Mater each added two assists.

 

The Packers finished the night with 10 more shots (14-4) than the Vikings, leaving Packer sophomore keeper Hallie Snyder needing to make only three saves.

 

Fremont improved to 14-4-1 on the season. Whitehall concluded its season 7-8-1.