Prep roundup: Hartland girls soccer beats Northville on penalty kick

There was no hesitation when someone needed to step up and take a penalty kick for Hartland’s girls soccer team Monday.

Senior Katie Swirczek scored following a penalty in the box with seven minutes remaining in the first half Monday, giving Hartland a 1-0 victory over Northville.

Swirczek has a track record of success taking free kicks and corner kicks, scoring a big goal off a free kick against Okemos in districts last year and directly off a corner kick this season against Brighton .

“We’ve had different people take them,” Hartland coach Andrew Kartsounes said. “We haven’t had one in a while. Usually, she’s a defensive center-mid for us. She wasn’t feeling great today at the start of the game. As soon as we got the call, she stepped up and wanted it. She buried it in the side netting.”

Jenna Brock made nine saves for a shutout that moved Hartland one step closer to its first KLAA West championship since a three-year run from 2012-14.

“We’ve played a lot of soccer,” Kartsounes said. “This was our third game in three school days. We played Thursday, Friday and today. We got better as the game went on. We were much stronger in the second half.”

The Eagles are 8-1-1 in the division with four games remaining. They have a showdown at second-place Canton (5-1-3) at 7 p.m. Thursday. At 4-1-4, Salem is also still in the hunt.

Hartland beat Canton, 3-1, on April 9.

“We played pretty well, but they have some good offense and are a tough team to beat twice,” Kartsounes said.

Chelsea 1, Pinckney 0

Grace Ratliff scored off a pass from Christina Roberts in the first half for Chelsea, ranked No. 11 in Division 2, in a battle for first place in the SEC White.

Chelsea is 5-0 in the division, while Pinckney is 3-1-1.

RELATED: Should teams stop pitching to Hartland's Brayden Crowe in big spots?

Golf

Next Tee Invitational

Howell and Brighton tied for 13th place with scores of 312 in a 27-team event at Oakland Hills Country Club. Hartland tied for 21st with a 325.

Zach Spencer was seventh with a 71 and Derek Kantola was 27th with a 76 for Howell.

Riley Morton was 21st with a 75, Jacob Daavettila was 37th with a 77 and Adam Forcier was 54th with a 79 for Brighton.

Hartland’s Michael Maurin was 54th with a 79.

Grand Rapids Christian sophomore Cooper Reitsma was first out of 135 golfers with a 64.

Boys lacrosse

Hartland 15, Canton 5

Jake Lewis scored four goals and four assists, Jacob Ross four goals and three assists, and Drew Lockwood three goals and two assists for Hartland.

Dylan Ayotte and Connor Gilbert each scored twice for the Eagles.

Brighton 17, Plymouth 3

Danny Copple scored four goals for Brighton (9-4).

Baseball

Pinckney 15, Ypsilanti 0

Pinckney 15, Ypsilanti 0

Pinckney’s Jonny Hoffman didn’t allow a hit and struck out 10 batters in the four-inning opening game.

Carson Emery was 3-for-3 with three RBIs in the first game. Zach Cortez was 4-for-6 with five RBIs in the twinbill. Landen Bauer gave up one hit and fanned seven in three innings in the nightcap.

Plymouth 10, Howell 0

Daniel Hampton had two of Howell’s three hits.

Softball

South Lyon East 3, Brighton 2

Brighton 7, South Lyon East 5

Freshman Anna Minnick went 5-for-7 in the twinbill for Brighton.

Brighton’s Belle Sixbery struck out 11 batters and allowed only two hits in 6⅔ innings in the nightcap.

Girls lacrosse

Howell 16, Walled Lake 5

Sophia Balla had five goals and four assists, while Janie Mitter had five goals for Howell.

Ellie Underhill made 11 saves for the Highlanders.

Detroit Country Day 20, Brighton 13

Georgia Gill scored five goals, Sophia Heady three goals and one assist, Ella Toth one goal and three assists, and Cece Mainhardt two goals for Brighton.

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Prep roundup: Hartland girls soccer beats Northville on penalty kick