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. 

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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.)