Elk Rapids Ends Stalemate with Overtime Goal to Clinch First Finals Title since 1998
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 7, 2026
GRAND LEDGE — Elk Rapids junior Noah Liggett admitted he was “dreading” seeing the Division 3 Boys Soccer Final go into penalty kicks.
So, just in the nick of time, he did something about it.
Just when it appeared Elk Rapids and Williamson were heading into a shootout, Liggett scored with 2:07 remaining in overtime to give Elk Rapids a 1-0 win.
It was the third Finals championship overall for Elk Rapids and the first since it won the second of back-to-back titles in 1998. The Elks had lost two years ago in the championship match to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
The winning goal was started by senior Eli Zbylowski, who served a ball into the box that was headed toward Liggett by an Elk Rapids player.
Liggett pounced on the chance, finding room to get a foot on it before driving the ball just underneath the crossbar to set off a wild celebration.
“I can’t even recall what happened,” Liggett said. “I just remember hitting it and running down the sideline. But it’s amazing.”
Liggett’s goal capped off a match during which Elk Rapids (24-1-3) controlled a majority of the possession but couldn’t penetrate a stout Williamston defense.
That didn’t change until Liggett broke through, ending nearly three decades of waiting for a third title in school history.
“I think we’ve known for a while that this group is capable of an awful lot,” Elk Rapids head coach Nate Plum said. “But (you don’t fully know) until you start putting all the pieces on the field and you start seeing what they look like and how they shape up in the early fall. There’s always waves through a season. We’ve had our waves where sickness hit us and we had our injuries. But we finished that game with 100 percent of our team ready to play and able to play. Just super happy with them, and we knew they could do something like this.”
Williamston (12-9-4) was seeking its first Finals title to cap a rather improbable tournament run. The Hornets started the year off 1-6-3, but ended up winning eight in a row going into the championship match, its fourth in school history and first since 2015.
The Hornets had already earned two shootout wins during these playoffs – over Eaton Rapids in a District Final and Grosse Ile in a Semifinal – and rightfully felt good about their chances had they been able to get into penalty kicks again.
It wasn’t meant to be Saturday, but the last three weeks still provided a great tournament ride for their school and community.
“We should be proud of the effort they put in this season,” Williamston head coach Ian Kurth said. “Coming into the postseason, we were 6-8-4. We had to fight our way with every single match. The performance and the effort the boys turned in is what got us here. And we should be proud of that.
“You know, one mistake late in the game against a really quality Elk Rapids program. They deserve that championship, and we’ll look to reload and maybe we can get back here next year.”
Elk Rapids didn’t allow a goal over its final 15 matches this season and will carry the third-longest shutout streak in MHSAA history into next fall.
PHOTOS (Top) Elk Rapids players celebrate their Division 3 championship win Saturday at Grand Ledge. (Middle) The Elks’ Gavin Hamilton (3) works to find an opening against Williamston’s Trey Moulton. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Athens Ends Inspired Run with OT Surge
November 2, 2019
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
COMSTOCK PARK – It was nearly three decades ago to the day that Todd Heugh won an MHSAA Finals championship as a soccer player at Troy Athens High School.
Heugh experienced that same joy as the head coach of his alma mater Saturday after the Red Hawks defeated Traverse City West 4-1 in overtime in the Division 1 Final at Comstock Park High School.
“I was on the 1989 state championship team at Athens, and now in 2019 I win one as a head coach,” Heugh said. “We’ve talked all season about enjoying the journey and this moment of playing on the big stage at a great facility. They seized their moment, and I’m thrilled for them. I know it’s something that they are not going to forget the rest of their lives.”
Troy Athens (23-2-1) won the program’s fifth Finals title, but first since 1997. Heugh’s 1989 squad won a Class A championship with a 1-0 victory over Salem.
“I think it’s amazing,” said Red Hawks goalkeeper Jason Kemp, who had four saves. “He talked about it the other day in the locker room, and he pulled out his varsity jacket and his medals and everything. He said 30 years ago he won the state championship, and now you guys have the opportunity in front of you yourselves.
“It’s been a while since our school has won a state championship, so to finally give this great institution another state championship is indescribable.”
After a scoreless first half, Troy Athens got on the board with just more than 27 minutes remaining.
After a penalty that resulted in a free kick, senior Andri Myftari ripped a shot from just outside of the box into the left corner of the goal.
Traverse City West (18-4-2), which had won 13 of its last 14 games, answered with less than 14 minutes left when sophomore Colin Blackport scored on a penalty kick.
“I think for the first time this season, maybe we got a little rattled after they scored on the PK,” Heugh said. “We started to foul, but we had time to calm down before overtime and we talked about seizing your moment. They are going to have theirs, we are going to have ours, and what are you going to do in those moments. I was super proud of them.”
Both teams failed to score during the first 10-minute overtime period. But over the next 10 overtime minutes, the Red Hawks strung together a flurry of goals to take command.
Troy Athens scored three goals in a span of four minutes.
Sophomore Ryan Gruca had a pair, including the go-ahead goal, and senior Rishi Kalyan added the other to send the Athens faithful into a frenzy.
“We’ve scored in bunches throughout this tournament, so there wasn’t a doubt that we could do it,” Heugh said. “I didn’t think we would get three, but I knew if we scored one then we might be able to score two. We’ve done it quite a bit in the tournament.”
Troy Athens drew inspiration from last year’s disappointment. The team was unbeaten through the regular season before being upset in the District Final.
Thirteen seniors returned from that team in a bid for redemption.
“That was always our motivation coming into the season,” Myftari said. “Just doing better than we did last season, and I think that’s what helped us win. We’ve just always pushed to do better, and we had that grind in us.”
Heugh said last year’s ending was brought up only for a short time.
“We talked about last year for a day, and we were going to make a conscious effort not to do it after that,” he said. “A lot of these kids were on that team and came back as seniors. The just won their 44th game in the last two years playing a difficult schedule, so I’m excited they are champions.”
Titans' keeper Blade Kalbfleisch was outstanding in the net and made a pair of incredible saves.
Click for the full scoring summary.
PHOTOS: (Top) Troy Athens’ Nikhil Somani (5) and Andri Myftari (10) celebrate during Saturday’s Division 1 championship game win. (Middle) Traverse City West’s Kaden Ales (7) works to get the ball through Athens’ defense and the snow.