ROCHESTER HILLS — In 1990, pop superstar and Oakland County-native Madonna set off on her Blonde Ambition Tour and played to sold out crowds across the world.

Nineteen years later, the soccer team at the Material Girl’s alma mater, Rochester Adams, is trying to put together its very own blond ambition tour through the state tournament. The Highlanders got off on the right foot in that regard, showing off their brand new bleached-blond hairdos and a hefty helping of ambitious play from their offense, as they beat visiting Clarkston, 3-2, in the opening game of the Division 1 Lake Orion district Monday night.

Adams senior forward Joey Dillon headed in the game-winning goal at the 15:49 mark of the second half off a corner kick by teammate Matt Szilard. Dillon finished with two goals in the game, both off headers via Szilard corner kicks.

“On both goals, I made a run to the back post and Matt placed great kicks in the box for me to convert,” Dillon said. “Tonight was a physical game through and through. Nobody wanted their season to end, so we were each playing with reckless abandon. Things got a little chippy, but we didn’t let it get to us and came through with the tough win. We have 13 seniors on this team and everybody knows their jobs. When we work together, good things happen.”

With the win over the Wolves, Adams advances into the district semifinals to face Ortonville-Brandon — 2-1 winners over Waterford Kettering — in a 5 p.m. game at Lake Orion High School on Wednesday.

Holding the No. 8 ranking in the state in Division 1, according to the latest rankings, the Highlanders improve their overall record to 13-3-3.

Jumping in front 2-0 on a Dillon header and a goal by Alex Czirmer on a free kick, Adams looked to be in control of the game with the clock winding down towards halftime.

However, Clarkston rallied back with fierce intensity. Jake Ray’s goal in the closing minutes of the first half made it 2-1 and then Connor Hall’s breakaway score off a perfectly-struck crossing pass from teammate Garrett Gotaas with 19:06 left to play knotted things up at 2-2.

Things didn’t remain deadlocked for long, though, as Dillon headed in his game-clincher on a play that was almost identical to his first-half goal.

Josh Hickey, the Highlanders’ first-year head coach, likes the way his team has been progressing through the season — Adams finished the regular season undefeated (10 wins and two ties) in its last 12 games.

“We’ve made great strides with each game this whole season,” said Hickey, following the triumph. “We stayed focused and finished up our schedule on a real high-note coming into the tournament. That type of mentality carried us tonight. We were fortunate to pull this one out. Clarkston came at us with an outstanding game plan and kept pounding away the entire 80 minutes. This team believes in itself and they showed it tonight. They think they can play with any team in the whole state and its that kind of confidence and attitude that will keep us going forward.”

The Wolves bow from the state tournament with a final season record of 11-6-4.

Clarkston and Adams played to a 2-2 tie in its only other matchup of the year back in September.

Kevin Soission collected four saves in net to garner the win for the Highlanders.

Clarkston got four saves as well from its goalie Andrew Campbell.

Last season, Adams lost in the district semifinals to a Troy team that eventually went on to earn a berth in the Division 1 quarterfinals.