CLAWSON - Yevhenii Moroz may have scored the biggest goal of his career so far and he didn't even know it.
Sure, the Warren Mott sophomore midfielder celebrated, but it was more than just a game-winning goal.
Moroz booted home the go-ahead goal with 45 seconds left, as Warren Mott outlasted Clawson 3-2 in the final Macomb Area Conference Gold Division game.
About 30 minutes after the conclusion of the game, the Marauders learned that New Haven upset then-league-leader St. Clair Shores Lake Shore 1-0, which gave Mott the league championship outright.
Mott closes out the regular season with three straight wins and a 3-0-1 record in its last four games. The Marauders outscored the opposition 22-10 in the four-game stretch.
The win also propelled Warren Mott from last-to-first, as the Marauders finished 0-10-2 in the MAC Blue Division last season and just 3-12-2 overall.
"Last year we only scored around 12 goals all season," admitted Warren Mott coach Richard Massad. "We were young and we had one guy up top that wanted to take on the whole world and it didn't work. This year we have got better and we have slowly come together.
"Today, we struggled with the offside trap. Both times we played Clawson that's how they kept it close," added Massad. "I'm not going to take anything away from Clawson because they played hard and the trap is what works for them. The (offside) trap has not been a problem except the two times we played Clawson."
It was the quiet and unassuming Moroz who provided the clutch goal in the 80th minute. The play started out of the back where senior center back Bryce Randolph sent a short pass over to freshman Ostrap Bachynskyi, who turned and perfectly-slotted a low pass between defenders and Moroz timed his run perfectly, streaking through with the breakaway opportunity and finishing it into the back of the net for the 3-2 lead.
Mott held on down the stretch.
"It was a really nice pass and I ran onto it," said Moroz, who now has 11 goals and 12 assists on the campaign. "I just had to score for my team."
For the season, Warren Mott has been a dangerous offensive team, holding a 63-35 scoring edge.
The Marauders tied the game at 1-1 with 29:10 to go when Ostrap set up senior teammate Valentin Juncaj near the top of the box and in a fluid motion Valentin spun around and with his left foot ripped home a shot that sneaked into the left side of the net.
Warren Mott went ahead at 2-1 with 23:08 to play, this time with senior forward George Thomas corralling a pass from senior Santiago Camargo and blasting home his shot from inside the box on a counterattack opportunity.
The lead didn't last forever, as Clawson tied it up with 16:04 remaining when junior Jace Meeks picked off a pass deep in Mott territory and set up senior Daro Laster with the game-tying goal.
"The (offside) trap works for us because defense is where out speed and experience are at," noted Clawson coach Kaite Meeks. "It was working great until the last minute. We had some activity with the delay for the injury, some substitutions and then they got behind our defense and scored with around 45 seconds left. We did a great job (containing) that team for most of the game. But they found ways to score those (second-half) goals. The trap just didn't work on the last goal. Credit to them for timing the run right."
Clawson (5-11-1, 4-5-1) took a 1-0 advantage with 12:03 left in the first half on an unusual play. Sophomore Colin Kolber picked off a pass back some 45 yards out in front of the goal and chipped the ball towards the net where the Kolber was able to get the bounce past Mott goalkeeper Aiden Kawa and roll inside the back of the net before Kawa could retreat in time.
The second half belonged to Warren Mott, which held the 3-1 advantage over the in the final 40 minutes where they also held a 11-3 shots advantage.
Mott routinely shot itself in the collective foot as 18 times they were whistled for having a player in an offside position.
"We did over 20 times the first time and close to 20 times this time,": noted Massad. "That is clearly something that we have to work on. Guys kept making the runs early. We need to be making diagonal runs in front of their defenders on those plays. We play possession ball and we need to do a better job with those runs. We don't play long ball very often like some high school teams do. We kept taking off too early.
"But the one thing I can say is that we had a lot of ties earlier in the season. I was thinking out loud, 'we can't tie again.' But we found a way to win this one in the end," added Massad.
"I think in these last few games we're finally having a lot of guys stepping up and scoring goals. We're starting to play together more as a team," continued Massad. "We still have a lot to work on and we need guys to consistently come to practice. But we have a ton of talent on this team."
The pieces to the puzzle are there. And Warren Mott was able to get them to fit together enough for a conference championship.
For the game, Warren Mott held a 18-8 shots advantage, although both teams traded off seven shots on goal. The Marauders also held a 7-3 edge off cornerkicks.
Warren Mott hosts Sterling Heights in a Division 1 pre-district game Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
NEW HAVEN 1, ST. CLAIR SHORES LAKE SHORE 0 >> New Haven stunned previous-league leader Lake Shore in the final game of the MAC Gold Division season, scoring the lone goal for the three points and halting Lake Shore of winning the conference title.
Lake Shore needed a win for 22 points for an outright conference championship or a tie and a Warren Mott tie of loss for the crown. Neither happened. The Shorians (9-5-4) finished 6-3-1 in league play for 19 points but lost their final two league games to finish second.
Mott notched its 3-2 victory over Clawson for the 21 league points and the outright title. Lake Shore finished second (6-3-2, 19 points) and New Haven third (5-3-2, 17 points).
New Haven closed the regular season by going 5-1-1 down the stretch. The Rockets (5-6-2 overall) outscored their final seven opponents 21-13 with a pair of shutouts.
Christopher Wiles' free kick goal from 50 yards out in the 25th minute was the lone tally for New Haven in the upset of Lake Shore.
Goalkeeper Pete Tobia kept the score at 1-0 in the 87th minute with a penalty kick save and two subsequent rebound saves. He finished the night with 18 saves on the night to record his team's second clean sheet of the season.
New Haven hosts Capac in a Division 4 pre-district game Thursday. Lake Shore will visit St. Clair at 6 p.m. Wednesday for a pre-district contest.