De La Salle 3-Peat Adds First-Time Accomplishment to Program's Legacy
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 7, 2026
GRAND LEDGE — The Warren De La Salle Collegiate boys soccer team talked all season about making more history at Saturday’s Division 2 Final.
Thanks to a 3-2 win over St. Joseph, De La Salle achieved that goal by becoming the first team in the state’s two largest classifications (Class A/Division 1 and Class B/Division 2) to win three straight state championships.
The title also was the program’s eighth overall.
“It means a ton to me because it’s never been done in D1 or D2,” longtime De La Salle head coach Thaier Mukhtar said. “We talked about making history, and they absolutely made history. This was a challenging year for me. I had to take a team that won back-to-back state championships and some way, somehow, find a way to keep them hungry. You have any idea how hard that is?”
De La Salle added to the run thanks to two more goals by the school’s all-time leading goal-scorer and points-earner, senior Andrew Corder, and key contributions from others.
“This one means more to me than the first two combined,” Corder said. “After, I was just bawling my eyes out, which I really didn’t do for the first two. Knowing I played my last game for De La Salle, it sucks. But I went out on a good note.”
The Pilots (21-3-4) also found a way to do what no team had been able to do all year – crack the St. Joseph defense.
The Bears entered having allowed just four goals all year and no more than two in a game, but De La Salle scored three times.
For St. Joseph, it was a tough way to end a special season that saw the Bears advance to the Finals for the first time since finishing Class B runner-up in 1992.
“It’s a legacy,” St. Joseph head coach John Brown said. “Obviously this one game doesn’t define us. They fought until the very end.”
De La Salle took a 2-1 lead with 35 minutes remaining in the game when Corder put in a rebound from in front of the St. Joseph goal after Settimo Leone put a shot on net.
Just 2:10 later, Corder put home another rebound off a shot by sophomore Marco DiLuca to give De La Salle a 3-1 lead.
St. Joseph made it interesting late, cutting the Pilots’ lead to 3-2 with 8:12 remaining on a goal by senior Caden Shannon, who put home a loose ball in the box through a bunch of bodies following a corner kick by senior Evan Hudak.
But the Bears couldn’t get the equalizer, and De La Salle celebrated more history.
“My challenge to them was simply, ‘OK, I nitpicked everything. I corrected all your mistakes. Win or lose, I went back and corrected all your mistakes. I hammered you over and over again,’” Mukhtar said. “I said to them, ‘I needed to get you here. The coaching staff got you here. Now it’s your game. I’m done coaching you. You now go out there and you decide whether you want this game bad enough or not.”
De La Salle opened the scoring with 28:35 left in the first half on a goal by Leone, who jumped on a loose ball in the box in front of the St. Joseph goal and fired it in.
The Bears tied the game with 6:30 remaining in the first half on a goal by senior Remy Kelm, who possessed the ball at the top of the De La Salle box, turned around and fired a shot that bent inside the far post.
PHOTOS (Top) De La Salle’s Andrew Corder sends a shot toward the St. Joseph goal Saturday. (Middle) The Pilots’ Kayden Risch (21) and St. Joseph’s Reece Crawford contend for the ball. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Okemos Finds Scoring Touch, Championship Stride in Comeback Win
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
November 6, 2021
NOVI – For three quarters of the Division 1 championship match Saturday at Novi High School, undefeated Okemos’ offense was lifeless against New Baltimore Anchor Bay.
The Tars paid close attention to Jack Guggemos, and the Chiefs had no answers until suddenly, their preparation for a late-game, must-score scenario played out with a dream result.
Down by a goal, Okemos (20-0-4) scored two within two minutes, 17 seconds of each other during the final 10 minutes to claim its third Finals title in a physical 2-1 victory.
Ben Hussey scored off a great assist from Guggemos to tie the game at 1-1, and Aidan Antcliff scored the game-winner on a free kick from 20 yards out with seven minutes, 42 second to play.
“I just tried to get to the end line, and Ben was there,’’ said Guggemos. “He made a great run to the box and tapped it in. You have to deal with what’s thrown at you.
Guggemos had a lot to live up to. His coach and father, Brian, won a Class B title as a senior at Mason in 1989.
“No pressure, right,’’ Jack said, laughing. “It’s a great feeling being able to celebrate this with him.’’
Antcliff knew his shot was in once he booted it.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,’’ said Antcliff, who scored just his second goal of the year. “It was a great shot. I practice that shot in the summertime. I got the opportunity in this game, and I made the most of it. Once I hit it, I knew it was going in.’’
Anchor Bay (22-2-1) made its first appearance in Final, while Okemos won the 2004 Division 1 title and was the B-C champ in 1984.
Okemos was led by all-state senior Guggemos, who set the school record with 45 goals this fall. Anchor Bay featured three past all-state players in Tanner Hodgson (first team), twin brother Carson Hodgson (second team) and goalie Evan Linsley (second team).
The Tars made sure Guggemos was surrounded any time he had the ball, sometimes with as many as three defenders.
“He was part of our game plan,’’ said Tars coach Nate Williams.
“It was a great game between two great soccer teams. We knew even up 1-0 we couldn’t take our foot off the gas.’’
Neither team generated offense in the first half, with most play at mid-field.
With 2:03 left in the first half, junior midfielder Francesco DiLorenzo blasted a shot past the Okemos keeper to give the upstart Tars a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
Anchor Bay came out even more aggressive in the second half with the lead and a chance at the state title.
Guggemos was shackled, but he got free to send a pass near the net with 9:59 left that Hussey redirected into the net to tie the game at 1-1.
“It’s funny because my assistant coaches were talking about it,’’ said Okemos coach Brian Guggemos. “I’ve been doing it long enough to know you need to prepare for moments where you’re going to be down a goal. In the last three weeks we’ve practiced being down a goal. We’ve tried to make sure we were prepared for it. We said look, if we’re down a goal here’s the formation. We went into it right away, and then I told Ben and Owen (Brewer), our two forwards, get in there and crash the goal. That obviously turns the game around a little bit.
"Aidan hits a banger to win the state championship. We also practice those things everyday this time of the year. The guys have listened to the things we needed to do in practice. They paid attention, and that attention to detail has been pretty good for us."
PHOTO (Top) Okemos celebrates its first Finals championship since 2004 on Saturday. (Middle) Anchor Bay's Tanner Hodgson (14) works to control possession with Okemos' Ben Hussey defending. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)