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.)
Country Day Proves Coach's Intuition True in Claiming Record 16th Finals Win
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 1, 2025
GRAND LEDGE — Often at the start of a season in August, Detroit Country Day boys soccer coach Steve Bossert said he will tell his wife that “we don’t have it this year.”
But before he could mutter those words this fall, Country Day went up to a tournament up at the Boyne Mountain Sports Complex in the middle of August and went 3-1 in four games.
At that point, Bossert had some different words for his wife.
“After we came back from that Boyne trip, I said, ‘I think we’re pretty good,’” Bossert said. “And then a couple of weeks after that, I said that ‘we might do this.’”
What “this” turned out to be was Country Day adding to its already record total of Finals championships won, as the Yellowjackets captured their 16th with a 4-1 win over South Haven in Saturday’s Division 3 Final.
It took Country Day seven years since winning its 15th title in 2018, but Country Day delivered in dominant fashion.
Country Day scored three goals during the first 18:50 of the game and never looked back in a one-sided effort, outshooting South Haven 31-5.
If not for 14 saves and overall brilliant play by South Haven senior keeper Alex Jaimes, the final score might have been more lopsided.
Senior Micah Zacks had two goals and an assist, and senior Tino Haratsaris had two assists to lead Country Day (22-2-1).
“We knew it was a good goalie, but we just had to keep shooting,” Zacks said. “There wasn’t much to it. Just keep shooting, and they’ll eventually go in. That’s what we did.”
South Haven (18-5-4) was attempting to win its first Finals title since being co-champion with Jackson Lumen Christi in 2003, but simply ran into a buzzsaw in Country Day.
“Overall, the season was something to be proud of,” South Haven head coach Randy Bautista. “Coming into the tournament we were not ranked. We beat tough opponents and ranked opponents throughout the playoffs. … Unfortunately it didn’t go our way today. But we keep our heads up and keep going.”
Country Day opened the scoring with 29:29 left in the first half on a beautifully constructed goal.
Stationed in front of the South Haven goal, Zacks headed a pass within the box to sophomore teammate Rye Clegg, who headed the ball himself into the goal to make it 1-0 Country Day.
The Yellowjackets took a 2-0 lead with 24:50 left in the first half on a goal by senior Yousef Darwich, who tapped the ball into an open goal after South Haven’s keeper couldn’t quite corral a strong cross sent in by Country Day junior Luke Hourani.
The Yellowjackets then went up 3-0 with 21:10 to go in the first on a goal by Zacks, who sent home the ball off of a corner kick.
With 36:35 remaining in the game, Country Day took a 4-0 lead when Haratsaris brilliantly maneuvered around a defender and sent a pass in front of the goal to Zacks, who buried the chance.
South Haven got on the board with 1:17 remaining on a goal by junior Jaden Bolhuis, who fired a shot from roughly 30 yards away that went under the crossbar.
PHOTOS (Top) Country Day’s Tino Haratsaris (2) connects on a shot while South Haven’s Isaac Chalupa (25) rushes to defend. (Middle) South Haven keeper Alex Jaimes goes high to get his hands on the ball. (Below) DCD’s Yousef Darwich makes a run with the Rams’ Luke Swearingen defending. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)