D3 Rematch Becomes Grosse Ile Repeat
November 7, 2020
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
NOVI – In a repeat of last year’s MHSAA Division 3 championship soccer game, Grosse Ile and senior Bosh Tanyi again edged Grand Rapids South Christian to close the season Saturday.
Tanyi’s goal with 26 minutes, 34 seconds left in the second half untied a defensive struggle, and the Red Devils retained their title with a 1-0 victory over the Sailors.
Grosse Ile had won last year’s championship 2-1 in a shootout over South Christian, and the Sailors were looking for revenge.
Instead, Tanyi’s goal – with an assist from sensational freshman Ali Khlaled – gave the Red Devils their second title in their third-straight trip to the championship game. The goal was Tanyi’s 49th of the season.
“We started going forward more in the second half,’’ said Tanyi. “In the first half we got stuck in our backline. They opened up in the second half, and we did too. I feel like we got more shots on net, and it was going our way.
“I turned around on a goalkeeper clearance and I saw Ali get the ball and I started making a run across the backline, and he put it perfectly on my foot. I just put it in. I got a little frustrated in the first half.’’
Grosse Ile lost goalkeeper Hayden Watson to an injury early in the first half. Junior midfielder Clayton Lafayette was solid in net until Watson returned.
“I went up for the ball, and the sun was in my eyes and he got me right here,’’ said Watson, pointing to his hamstring. “I think it overstretched a little bit, and it started getting better as the game proceeded.
“I did my part. I trusted the guys to do theirs. We executed the game. There were good shots on net. I just had to hold them.’’
When he returned Watson was sensation, stifling every scoring attempt the Sailors were able to mount.
There weren’t many.
The teams combined for three shots on frame in a first half that didn’t see much offense.
“The first couple of minutes of the second half, things got better,’’ said Tanyi.
Tanyi’s first shot came 10 minutes into the second half. Four minutes later, he scored what proved to be the game-winner for the Red Devils, who finished the year 20-1. South Christian suffered its first loss of the season and fell to 18-1-1.
Both goalies were stellar as Nick Schepers nearly matched Watson in net, except for Tanyi’s goal.
“There weren’t a lot of shots, and that usually happens in the finals,’’ said South Christian coach Jason Boersma. “We gave up one opportunity on the weak side on the breakaway. They buried it. That’s what it takes to win. You get your few opportunities, you put it away, and they did it. So, I’m impressed by them.
Winning coach Jon Evans was impressed with his team being able to beat the Sailors in consecutive years, knowing South Christian would be ready.
“It definitely wasn’t easy,’’ said Evans. “I knew they were going to throw everything at us. We were able to hold on for 80 minutes. If you look at the start of the season, I felt like this could have been the matchup on this date. It ended up being that way.
“We started five sophomores and a freshman today. We battled. These kids play at a pretty high level. They bought into their roles, that they filled in from the eight starters they lost last year on the team that won in 2019. Kudos to all the boys. They worked their butts off for 80 minutes straight, and they deserve this.’’
Grosse Ile improved to 3-1 all-time in MHSAA Finals.
Click for the full stat summary.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grosse Ile's Bosh Tanyi celebrates his game-winning goal Saturday against Grand Rapids South Christian. (Middle) Tanyi goes to the turf as he sends his shot into the net. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Pilots' Record-Setting Coach Always Eager to Play Role in Helping Students Soar
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 13, 2025
As if they were fans standing outside an arena’s exit waiting for a famous rock star or professional athlete to come out, Warren De La Salle Collegiate students congregated outside a gate at Grand Ledge High School with bated breath.
Instead of a rock star or athlete, the students had phones up waiting for Thaier Mukhtar, and let him know just how much he was loved.
“Mr. Mukhtar! Mr. Mukhtar!” the students chanted while mobbing him with praise.
Given what he has meant to the school and Michigan high school soccer for nearly four decades, it’s no wonder why the students waited him out.
Mukhtar had just helped lead De La Salle to its seventh Finals championship with a 2-0 win over Hudsonville Unity Christian, and Mukhtar said he was now in elite company with a famous NFL quarterback.
“Everyone was making fun of me because Tom Brady had one more ring than me,” Mukhtar quipped. “Now he doesn’t.”
The Division 2 title was the second straight for De La Salle and finished off a recent stretch full of milestones.
Two seasons ago, Mukhtar became the all-time winningest boys soccer coach in state history when he surpassed Nick Archer of East Lansing by earning his 661st victory.
This year, Mukhtar reached the 600-win mark coaching for De La Salle. That achievement didn’t come with much fanfare, but that was by design and true to form.
“He didn’t celebrate a lot because it’s more about the team,” Pilots senior James Spicuzzi said. “We got him a signed ball, but that was really it. It’s more about the team for him than it is about himself.”
Mukhtar has tried to make that his emphasis since becoming the head coach of De La Salle in 1983 at the age of 23.
The Pilots won their first championship, in Class A, in 1990, and then consecutive titles in 1992 and 1993.
After sharing the 2000 Division 1 title with Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice and then defeating Brother Rice to win the championship in 2005, De La Salle went on a title drought.
Mukhtar actually left his coaching post at De La Salle in 2011 and coached boys and girls soccer at Fraser from 2012-17 before returning as Pilots coach in 2018.
A social studies teacher at De La Salle for 30 years – a job he still holds – Mukhtar admits his coaching style can rub some the wrong way.
“I’m a demanding coach,” he said. “I’m a perfectionist. I call out every little mistake, and I make sure we work on those mistakes. I don’t care if we win 4-1 or 4-0, but are making mistakes. You’re not going to make those mistakes at the end of the year if you don’t want to send your team home.
“I have people – whether it’s parents or players – look at me like, ‘That guy is crazy. They just won the game.’ It ain’t about winning the damn game. It’s about getting here (to the state final) and not making those mistakes. Not committing the foul. Not being out of position. Not communicating in the back. Different things we harp on over and over again.”
Junior Andrew Corder, who led De La Salle with 38 goals this year, said it’s tough love that players have learned to embrace.
“It’s been kind of hard at times, but he just wants the best for us,” he said. “It’s all worth it.”
Mukhtar said he often thinks about retirement, but then points to something his son told him as a reason to keep running it back.
“Every year it’s a battle with me and my administration and, ‘Am I returning? Am I not returning?’ I say to take it year by year,” Mukhtar said. “My CEO at De La Salle made me guarantee that I give him two years (notice) at least. … I give two and then I always say, ‘Why am I doing this?’ My knee is killing me. But when my son says to me, ‘Dad, the fact that you get nervous and the fact you get excited means that you’re not ready (to retire).’ He said it perfectly, and he’s 100 percent right.”
Which is why Mukhtar is likely to continue coaching for the foreseeable future, and why more student celebrations should be in store.
“I’m still teaching at school when I don’t have to, and I’m still coaching when honestly I’ve done everything I’ve needed to do in my life,” Mukhtar said. “I’m like three wins away from 900 career victories coaching boys and girls. I’m still doing all these things because I feel like I can play a role in their life. It’s not just soccer. I want you to be able to believe in yourself and believe that you can accomplish whatever you work hard for. I teach my students the same thing.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) De La Salle boys soccer coach Thaier Mukhtar holds up his team’s championship trophy after the Pilots clinched the Division 2 title Nov. 1 at Grand Ledge High School. (Middle) Mukhtar embraces keeper Giovanni Vitale after his team’s 2024 championship win.