Standish-Sterling goalkeeper Chelsea Austin, teammate Sarah Schwinck and Oscoda's Roshelle Sidebottom collide in front of the SSC goal in the second half of Monday's contest.
Oscoda's Rushelle Sidebottom gets past the SSC defense early in the second half on her way to putting the Owls ahead for the first time in the contest.
Brent Baker
Standish-Sterling's Lacy Grzelik (5) gets mobbed by teammates after scoring the winning goal against Oscoda with two minutes to play in Monday's contest.

STANDISH-STERLING - Apr. 30, 2007 - Soccer games often feature ebbs and flows of momentum.

Monday's contest between Oscoda and Standish-Sterling, two teams searching for their first victories, had changes of momentum that were more like the wake of a tidal wave, with SSC getting the last laugh in a 4-3 victory.

The Panthers dominated the early going, but after Oscoda scored three goals in a seven-minute span of the first and second halves, the Owls had it going their way. Oscoda kept creating chances throughout the second half as SSC struggled to maintain an offensive attack.

But with time winding down, things took a dramatic turn in the Panthers' favor as Ashley Goick took a pass from Alicia Trombley at the right corner of the 18-yard line, and left unmarked, put the ball into the left corner of the goal to tie it at 3-3 with 6:40 left.

Momentum being what it is, it took just four minutes to finish it off, as Lacy Grzelik broke loose behind the Oscoda defense and scored the game-winner with 2:20 left.

"I wasn't too happy with how soft we opened the second half," said SSC coach John Rudberg. "But the girls stuck with it. We'll take the win.

"Even with that 10-minute lapse, though I thought Courtney Pierce, Alicia Trombley, Sarah Schwinck and Samantha Sobieray all played very well on D. I was really proud that they didn't give up, just kept playing and finally persevered."

The Panthers opened with two goals from Goick just a minute apart midway through the first half for a 2-0 lead. Oscoda's Tricia McDonald made it 2-1 at the half with a score in the 38th minute, then tied it at 2-2 two minutes into the second half. Just one minute later, Rushelle Sidebottom scored on a breakaway to give the Owls the lead.

Chelsea Austin had 15 saves for the Panthers.

The Panthers improved to 1-7 (1-5 NEMC), while the Owls fell to 0-5 (0-4).