De La Salle Collegiate Takes Final Step to Finish 1st Title Run since 2005
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 2, 2024
GRAND LEDGE – Josh Ross made it to the final game of his high school soccer career without getting a single yellow card.
But Saturday, when his late goal sealed Warren De La Salle Collegiate’s Division 2 Final against Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, the senior midfielder figured it was OK to break that streak.
Ross ripped off his jersey and ran to the De La Salle student section to start off a celebration 19 years in the making.
“It was my first yellow card of my entire career,” said Ross, who was carded as jersey removal is an automatic card. “We were talking about it on the bus, we were joking that I was going to get my first yellow card taking my shirt off, and man, that was the greatest feeling that I could ever feel.”
De La Salle defeated Northern 4-1 to claim the sixth Finals title in program history, but first since 2005. Coach Thaier Mukhtar has been at the helm for all of those titles, and was emotional after this latest one.
“This is my sixth state championship – I’ve been there, I’ve done that,” he said. “But my tears were for my seniors. I couldn’t be happier for them.”
The Pilots had 10 seniors on their roster, one year after having none. But a young group a year ago advanced to the Semifinals before getting knocked out in penalty kicks, and that helped push them throughout this season.
“We had a rough start to (2023), but our group is so close,” said Ross, who had two goals and two assists. “Even though I’m a senior, I feel like I’m in the same grade as the sophomores and juniors. We’re a close group of boys that really nothing can stand in our way. Once we figured that out last year and started our run, started our roll, we got unlucky and lost in pens. But we knew how close we were, we knew how good we were, and as you see, we came out here and won today.”
De La Salle spent much of the game holding onto a 2-1 lead, as a frenetic start saw three goals scored in the game’s first 23 minutes. Neither team would find the net again, however, until Ross’ goal with 3:36 to play put the game on ice, and an Andrew Corder goal 1:26 later erased any doubt.
“The biggest weight off my shoulders ever,” Ross said. “One of the greatest feelings in my life.”
While the game was just a shot away from being tied for the majority of the second half, the Huskies weren’t able to create consistent pressure or the big chances that could test De La Salle goalkeeper Dominic Baldarotta, who stopped one of the two shots the Huskies put on frame.
The Pilots (20-3-1), meanwhile, had seven shots on frame, but just three of them coming in the second half, including the two goals in the final 3:36.
The lack of scoring chances in the second was a stark contrast to the first half, when it looked like a wide open game could be unfolding.
De La Salle created the game’s first chance in the first 20 seconds after a quick free kick, and it scored the first goal 10:01 into the game as JJ Jurczyk finished off a Ross pass following a well-worked play on a corner kick.
It only took 1:04 for Northern to answer, however, as Dylan Van Skiver scored on a free kick to tie the game.
Ross’ first goal of the game didn’t come for another 11 minutes, but both teams had pushed through that timeframe. The goal, though, was worth the relatively short wait, as Corder played a gorgeous pass to spring Ross on goal, and the senior went to the far post for a 2-1 lead.
“I saw both the defenders closing me down,” Corder said. “(The) split, I practice that at Rondos at practice every day. So I put it through and just played him.”
Ross had an assist on Corder’s second goal, while Settimo Leone had an assist on Ross’ second.
“(Ross) was extremely motivated this year to lead this team to a championship,” Mukhtar said. “He’s a two-year captain, first-team all-state last year, he’ll be first-team all-state this year, obviously. He’s just a tremendous leader. He’s the type of kid you want to adopt. He’s extremely polite – except for taking off his shirt. I guess I won’t yell at him about that; he’s done.”
Goalkeeper Lukas Darling had three saves for Northern (19-5-3), which was playing in its first Final since winning it all in 2019.
PHOTOS (Top) De La Salle’s Vince Houlihan (19) controls the ball while two Forest Hills Northern players attempt to gain possession. (Middle) FHN’s Drin Mandija (23) winds up to send the ball forward with the Pilots’ Josh Ross in pursuit. (Below) De La Salle’s Andrew Corder maintains possession. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/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.