Royal Oak edges Rochester 2-1 in OAA girls soccer crossover

Ravens goalkeeper Kayla Faulkner makes 15 saves, including a penalty kick stop, to preserve the victory.

Mar. 21, 2026 at 3:48am

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The Royal Oak Ravens edged past the Rochester Falcons 2-1 in an Oakland Activities Association crossover match on Friday night. The Ravens opened the scoring in the first half and doubled their lead early in the second half, but Rochester mounted a late comeback attempt that was thwarted by the outstanding play of Royal Oak goalkeeper Kayla Faulkner, who made 15 saves including a penalty kick stop.

Why it matters

This was an important early-season matchup between two Oakland Activities Association girls soccer teams looking to gain momentum and learn more about their squads. The result gives Royal Oak a confidence boost, while Rochester can take valuable lessons from the loss to apply moving forward.

The details

Eva Armbruster scored the opening goal for Royal Oak in the first half, and Brooklyn Edwards added a second-half tally to make it 2-0 Ravens. Rochester dominated possession and chances in the second half, outshooting Royal Oak 10-1, but could only manage a late goal from Stella Marlow to spoil the shutout. Faulkner's heroics in goal, including a penalty kick save, preserved the victory for the Ravens.

  • The Ravens opened the scoring with 14:42 to play in the first half.
  • Royal Oak doubled its lead early in the second half with 34:25 left in the game.
  • Rochester scored its lone goal in the final minute of the match.

The players

Kayla Faulkner

The outstanding Royal Oak goalkeeper who made 15 saves, including a penalty kick stop, to preserve the victory for the Ravens.

Eva Armbruster

The Royal Oak player who scored the opening goal for the Ravens in the first half.

Brooklyn Edwards

The Royal Oak player who scored the second goal to make it 2-0 for the Ravens early in the second half.

Stella Marlow

The Rochester player who scored the Falcons' lone goal in the final minute of the match.

Melissa Vangorden

The head coach of the Royal Oak Ravens.

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What they’re saying

“She (Kayla) was absolutely incredible. She deserved the player of the game, and that's what she got. She did phenomenal. Our whole back line played really, really strong, and it was clearly a full team effort.”

— Melissa Vangorden, Head Coach, Royal Oak Ravens

“There's a lot of positives to take away. We created a lot. We moved the ball really well. There are some things we still need to work on as a team. We're really excited. We've got a good mixture of younger players and older players. I think this is one of the best things that can happen to us, to lose a game that really doesn't mean too much (from a non-league standpoint) early in the season. We can really see because a lot of things that happened today we talked about in training. We saw them happen and we just weren't quite ready, so it's going to be a good learning game for the girls.”

— Kevin Tapchom, Head Coach, Rochester Falcons

What’s next

Both teams will look to apply the lessons learned from this match as they continue their seasons. Royal Oak faces another OAA crossover against Bloomfield Hills on Wednesday, while Rochester travels to Clarkston for another crossover on Tuesday.

The takeaway

This early-season matchup between two Oakland Activities Association girls soccer teams provided valuable insights for both squads. Royal Oak demonstrated its defensive resilience and goalkeeping prowess to hold off a late Rochester comeback, while the Falcons can use this experience to identify areas for improvement as they aim to build on their strengths moving forward.