FENTON, MI -- When the Class of 2019 bids farewell to Fenton High School, the Tigers will be left with some big holes to fill in the girls soccer lineup.
Thirteen of them to be exact.
But none will be larger than the one created by the graduation of Lauren Murphy, the all-time leading goal scorer in school history.
Fortunately for the Tigers, Murphy saw to it Wednesday that Fenton’s season will continue for at least one more game as she scored the lone goal in a 1-0 Division 2 district-opening victory over Goodrich.
"You can't replace a goal scorer like that," said Fenton coach Matt Sullivan, who is thankful he doesn't have to think about that just yet. "You could put five girls up there. She's just a pure finisher. She's had an amazing year.
"She's just a pure finisher and has been her whole life. You can't coach that. That's a kid who has watched her shots go in the net a thousand times in her lifetime. You can't coach that. It's invaluable."
After a scoreless first half, Murphy bagged the game’s only goal 11 minutes into the second half.
Fellow senior Kirsten Foor sent a corner kick toward the front of the Goodrich net and Murphy was able to deflect it for her 22nd goal of the season.
It ended up moving the Tigers (13-5-2) into Tuesday’s championship game against the winner of the Holly-Brandon district semifinal.
"Kirtie is a great free kick shooter so I knew she would place the ball exactly where it needed to be and I got a touch on it and it went in," Murphy said. "I knew we had lots of balls in and crosses and I knew I had to get on the end of one of them.
"I know as soon as she kicks it, it's going to go right to the back post so I have to get on the end of it."
Murphy had at least three other quality scoring chances -- two after she scored -- but that was the only ball she could get past Goodrich’s freshman goalkeeper, Skylar Cupp.
Murphy was filled with confidence after leading to the Tigers to the Metro League championship last week with a 6-0 victory over Swartz Creek. That gave Fenton a 7-1 Metro record and allowed the Tigers to finish three points ahead of runner-up Flushing (6-0-1).
All Murphy did in the game against Swartz Creek was score all six goals -- that's another school record -- while narrowly missing a seventh when she hit the goal post.
“It was amazing,” Murphy said with a grin. "Being a senior and being our last Metro game for Metro champs, I was super happy to go out with six goals with my team. I couldn’t have done it without them. They gave me the balls.
"It build my confidence a lot.”
Fenton entered the game unranked in Division 2 while Goodrich, the Genesee Area Conference Red champion, was No. 8.
The Martians had trouble getting the ball deep into Fenton’s end of the field for most of the game and their best scoring chance came in the 12th minute of the second half, when Jessica Velasquez banged a shot from about 30 yards out off the cross bar.
Goodrich finished 14-3-1.
“I was expecting fast, physical, blood drawn to the end,” said Goodrich coach Evan Huizenga. "Knowing the style of p;ay that’s usually played here and knowing a few players from previous seasons, we expected a bunch of pace, a whole bunch of substitutions, a whole bunch of aggressive play and fast play.
“Just get after it, not a lot of possession time, just get up and down the field.”
The winner of the Fenton district will advance to the regional at Flint’s Atwood Stadium against the winner of the East Lansing district. There’s a good chance the Atwood regional will include two-time defending state champion Flint Powers Catholic.
While Powers is the only Flint-area team to win a state soccer championship, Fenton came close by reaching the 2015 Division 2 title game before losing a 1-0 shootout to Richland Gull Lake.
Sullivan sees similarities between his current team and the 2015 runners-up. That has the Tigers optimistic they can make a long run in the tournament.
“Let’s make it all the way,” Murphy said. “Why not?”