ROCHESTER HILLS >> The Lake Orion Dragons blitzed the Utica Eisenhower Eagles early then held on for a 2-0 win in the Division 1 district soccer semifinals Monday night.

Lake Orion got on the board just 1:04 into the game when Leonardo Fujita headed in a ball from close range for a 1-0 Lake Orion lead. Barely two minutes later, the Dragons struck again when Michael Boger fired a long range rocket into the left side of the net, making it 2-0 Lake Orion just 3:19 into the game.

That was all the offense the Dragons would need – or get – all night. Eisenhower would dominate possession for the remainder of the game. Led by the play of seniors Jackson Jaku, Shayne Baylet, and Alek Boardman, the Eagles would control the ball for long stretches, recycling possession in midfield and re-starting the attack.

But for all of their possession, the Eagles only managed six shots on goal against a good Lake Orion defense anchored by Rodrigo Gaytan, Jared Currie, and Holden Dholakia.

John Gentner was solid in net and earned the shutout for the Dragons.

“You’ve got to have luck. The crossbar and post saved us. Ike did everything they should have. Their coach made an adjustment. Their players played smart. But we defended well. Jack, our goalie, had a very good game,” Dragons head coach Chris Corteg said. “He was one of our top two or three players tonight.

Eisenhower came close several times in the second half as they controlled the ball for long stretches and largely shut off Lake Orion’s counterattack. In fact, Lake Orion did not get a shot on goal in the second half as the Eagles choked off the Dragon counterattack. But Eisenhower’s best chances in the second half also ended up missing the net – including hitting the goal frame three times – the Eagles could never get on the scoreboard.

“We’ve got to give credit to Lake Orion. They came out hot. Two goals the first five (minutes) is really hard to come back from,” Eagles head coach Josh VanHouten said. “We put the pressure on them. We tried to play the best we could, and it’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t get the bounce, or the skip, or even hit the post three times the second half. If any of those go in, we’re back in this game.”

With the win, Lake Orion (13-6-2) moves on to the district final on Wednesday against Rochester Adams.

“Now we get Adams. They’re going to want some revenge. They looked very good earlier tonight against Romeo, particularly in the second half,” Corteg said. “So we’ll have our hands full. It should be a good match.”

Lake Orion defeated Rochester Adams 2-1 on Aug. 29.

Utica Eisenhower finishes the year 13-5-1 and co-champions of the Macomb Area Conference Red Division.

“You’ve got to give credit to our seniors. We only had six this year. We had 13 last year. And these guys really stood out and left it all on the field for me. It’s unfortunate we lost this early, but it’s why you play the game,” VanHouten said. “It was a re-load for us. We came out of nowhere, and people may have underestimated us. But we’ve got a lot of guys coming back next year, and you’ve got to be proud of what these guys did this year.”