Finals Preview: The Golden Goal
November 2, 2012
There's a definite Grand Rapids feel to this weekend's MHSAA Boys Soccer Finals.
The higher-ranked teams in all four championship games hail from that city and its near neighbors, and have combined for six MHSAA championships. Their opponents have combined for two titles, and two of the four will be playing in their first Finals on Saturday.
All four games can be watched live at MHSAA.tv. See the schedule below:
- Division 1: East Kentwood vs. Grand Blanc, 3 p.m. at Troy Athens
- Division 2: Hudsonville Unity Christian vs. Petoskey, 3 p.m. at East Kentwood Crestwood Middle School
- Division 3: Grand Rapids South Christian vs. Williamston, noon at East Kentwood Crestwood
- Division 4: Grand Rapids Covenant Christian vs. Hamtramck Frontier International, noon at Troy Athens
Read on for background on all eight teams, including their most impressive wins this fall and some of the players who could make the biggest impacts on the final day of the season. (Statistics below do not include those from Wednesday's Semifinals.)
DIVISION 1
EAST KENTWOOD
Record/rank: 21-1-4, No. 1
Coach: John Conlon, 13th season (253-38-22)
League finish: First in O-K Red.
MHSAA championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2010).
Best wins: 3-1 and 2-1 (District Semifinal) over No. 2 Rockford, 2-1 over No. 5 Brighton (Regional Final), 4-0 over Division 2 No. 2 Ada Forest Hills Eastern
Players to watch: Charlie Constantino, sr. M (9 goals, 11 assists); Tyler Moorman, sr. D (10 G/4 A); Josh Hagene, sr. M (8 G/12 A), T.J. Ifaturoti, sr. F (16 G/7 A).
The scoop: East Kentwood has won at least 20 games for the seventh time over the last eight seasons and has been the dominant program in Division 1 of late with MHSAA championships three of the last five seasons. Constantino is considered one of the top players in Michigan high school soccer, and he’s one of 11 seniors on the team. East Kentwood’s only loss was 4-3 to No. 8 Portage Northern.
GRAND BLANC
Record/rank: 16-6-2, unranked
Coach: Greg Kehler, 14th season (217-62-29)
League finish: Second in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West
MHSAA championship history: Class A runner-up 1987
Best wins: 5-3 over No. 4 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (Regional Semifinal), 4-3 over Lake Orion (District Final).
Players to watch: Chris Sullivant, sr. M (4 G/8 A); Dominic Mastromatteo, sr. F (11 G/6 A), Nick Berklich, jr. F (16 G/2 A).
The scoop: Kehler has 429 wins total between Grand Blanc’s boys and girls teams and took the latter to the 2004 Finals. This run has been a little more unexpected, especially after graduating Mr. Soccer Zach Carroll this spring. But the Bobcats are making good on lessons learned during nine games decided by a goal during the regular season, and have won three one-goal games plus another by two in overtime during the tournament. Sullivant is a four-year standout, and Mastromatteo in particular has been finding the net often during the postseason surge.
DIVISION 2
HUDSONVILLE UNITY CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 24-2, No. 3
Coach: Randy Heethuis, 19th season (353-62-29)
League finish: Tied for first in O-K Green
MHSAA championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 2009), four runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 3-0 over No. 2 Ada Forest Hills Eastern (Regional Semifinal), 2-1 over No. 1 Spring Lake (Regional Final), 2-0 over No. 7 Holland, 2-0 over Division 3 No. 2 Grand Rapids South Christian, 4-0 over Division 4 No. 10 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian.
Players to watch: Jared Timmer, soph. M (6 G/15 A); Jake Love, sr. F (12 G/13 A); Stephan Hooker, sr. M (19 G/8 A); Joe Honderd, jr. F (13 G/6 A); Nick Woldyk, sr. GK (0.76 GAA, 9 SHO).
The scoop: The Crusaders are the reigning runners-up from Division 3 and certainly earned their way here by beating the only teams ranked ahead of them in the most loaded Regional in any division. Unity Christian has shut out four of six opponents during the tournament and 14 total this season. The losses came on opening night to Division 1 No. 8 Portage Northern and to Holland in their second game against each other this fall.
PETOSKEY
Record/rank: 17-8-2, unranked
Coach: Zach Jonker, third season (35-26-9)
League finish: Third in Big North Conference
MHSAA championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 2008), two runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 1-0 (OT) over No. 4 East Lansing (Regional Final), 3-1 over No. 9 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood (Semifinal), 2-0 and 2-0 over Division 3 No. 7 Elk Rapids.
Players to watch: Louis Lamberti, sr. F (12 G/5A), A.J. Hoffman, sr. F (10 G/6 A), Evan Altman, sr. M (8 G/8 A), Drew Smith, sr. GK (0.92 GAA, 13 SHO).
The scoop: The Northmen loaded their schedule with tough competition early, and it’s paid off at the end. Their losses are nearly as impressive as their wins: to Division 1 honorable mention Warren DeLaSalle and No. 4 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek and to Division 2 No. 8 Bloomfield Hills Lahser during a 1-5-1 start. Petoskey is 16-3-1 over its last 20. The team also finished MHSAA runner-up in 2009 before making District exits the last two seasons.
DIVISION 3
GRAND RAPIDS SOUTH CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 20-2-3, No. 2
Coach: Jason Boersma, second season (36-7-5)
League finish: First in O-K Gold
MHSAA championship history: MHSAA champion 2010, runner-up 2007.
Best wins: 2-0 over No. 3 Whitehall, 1-0 over No. 9 Grosse Ile (Semifinal).
Players to watch: Erik VerHoef, sr. GK (0.43 GAA); Kyle Doornbos, sr. D/M (6 G/12 A); Marlon Bykerk, jr M/F (14 G/13 A); Cody Kok, jr. M (13 G/6 A).
The scoop: The 17 shutouts by VerHoef and Zach Medendorp rank among the most in MHSAA history for one season, and total the team has given up only 10 goals. Seven Sailors have scored at least six goals, with senior Alex Klunder adding his ninth of the season in Wednesday’s Semifinal to push the team into the championship game. South Christian’s only losses came to Division 2 No. 2 Forest Hills Eastern and No. 3 Unity Christian.
WILLIAMSTON
Record/rank: 19-7-1, honorable mention
Coach: Brent Sorg, eighth season (106-69-12)
League finish: Second in Capital Area Activities Conference White
MHSAA championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 3-1 and 2-1 (SO, Semifinal) over No. 7 Elk Rapids, 2-0 and 3-2 (Regional Semifinal) over No. 8 Freeland, 2-0 over No. 10 Frankenmuth (Regional Final), 2-1 over Division 4 No. 1 Lansing Christian, 6-2 over Division 4 No. 9 Ann Arbor Greenhills.
Players to watch: Hunter Lyle, jr. M (16 G/6 A); Zach Sundin, sr. F (19 G/6 A), Ross Needler, sr. M (17 G/16 A), Phil Erickson, sr. M (10 G/3 A).
The scoop: Williamston has won nine of its last 10 after also stacking the schedule early. The Hornets fell early to ranked Division 2 teams Holland, East Lansing and Haslett, plus Division 3 No. 5 Detroit Country Day and tied Division 1 honorable mention Birmingham Brother Rice during the first half of the season. But Williamston has been building toward this type of run with five straight seasons of either increasing or equaling the previous year’s win totals. This season’s District title was its second straight and fourth under Sorg.
DIVISION 4
GRAND RAPIDS COVENANT CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 19-4-1, No. 8
Coach: Mike Noorman, ninth season (106-64-11)
League finish: First in River Valley Conference
MHSAA championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 2-1 over No. 10 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian, 2-1 over No. 2 Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central (Regional Semifinal), 2-0 over honorable mention Leland (Semifinal).
Players to watch: Jordan Van Oostenbrugge, sr. M/F (16 G/11 A); Corbin Prince, jr. F (16 G/12 A); Austin Brower, jr. GK (1.23 GAA/11 shutouts).
The scoop: Combined, Van Oostenbrugge and Prince have scored more than half of their team’s goals and more than the Chargers have given up this season. The District title was Covenant Christian’s third in five seasons and the team has increased its win total in each of the last four. The Chargers have 11 seniors, but also start two talented sophomores.
HAMTRAMCK FRONTIER INTERNATIONAL
Record/rank: 17-2, unranked
Coach: Nasser Algahim, third season (51-4)
League finish: Does not play in a conference.
MHSAA championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 4-2 over No. 4 Birmingham Roeper (District Semifinal), 2-0 over No. 9 Ann Arbor Greenhills (Regional Semifinal), 1-0 over No. 1 Lansing Christian (Regional Final), 2-0 over No. 5 Genesee Christian (Semifinal).
Players to watch: Baleegh Algahim, sr. F, (23 G/10 A); Habeb Ghaleb, soph. M, (21 G/8 A), Mujeeb Nahshal, jr. M, (5 G/15 A), Mohammed Alfahad, sr. M (5 G/11 A); Ammar Abdullah, soph. GK (0.78 GAA)
The scoop: Frontier International is in just its third season as a program, but made the Division 4 Semifinals in 2010 and returned to Regionals last fall. Playing as an independent, the Knights faced a schedule loaded with bigger schools from all over the Detroit area, with losses only to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and Berkley. Although unranked, no team aside from Unity Christian in Division 2 has knocked out as impressive a group of ranked opponents during the tournament this fall.
PHOTO: Hudsonville Unity Christian senior Logan Walters (21), here in last season's Division 3 Final against Detroit Country Day, will try to help the Crusaders to their second MHSAA title in three years.
Already Climbing State's Career Goals List, Juneau Focused on Leading Team's Rise
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
August 29, 2025
With every goal this season, Harbor Springs junior Henry Juneau will continue his climb up the MHSAA all-time career scoring list.
With 86 goals and 38 assists entering this season, the two-time all-stater had already qualified for the career points list. He has 12 goals already this fall, moving him onto the all-time career goals list as well.
Yet, Juneau would consider trading those spots for Harbor securing a spot in the MHSAA Division 4 Semifinals this fall. Throw in a conference championship, and it’s a done deal.
“I want to win the conference — that's one of the main things that we haven't won yet up here in Northern Michigan that we can accomplish,” he said. “It's been a lot of fun, and I guess over the past two years, we've just really seen it turn around — but we haven’t won the Regional championship.”
The Rams are off to a 3-0 start in the Northern Shores Conference. To win a conference title, the Rams will have to go through Elk Rapids, which has dominated during the league’s existence. Harbor Springs play host to the Elks in their next contest and also will travel to Elk Rapids on Sept. 25.
Juneau owns Harbor Springs’ school records for goals in a single game (9) and season (48). He led the Rams to District championships both of his first two years.
Winning a Regional title is more important to Juneau than breaking school and state records for finding the net. The state goals record sits at 201.
“They're not as significant to me, at least this year,” Juneau said. “I'd still love to break it and make the number higher and higher.”
Goals have been a little harder to come by so far this season for Juneau as the Rams have battled some highly-ranked and bigger schools. Juneau is also better known by Rams’ opponents, drawing some double and triple teams.
Earning wins also has been more challenging. The Rams – ranked No. 14 in Division 4 – are off to a 4-6 overall start, although the win-loss record is not a concern to Juneau or his fifth-year coach, Jeff Suffolk.
“We played some behemoths – every team was ranked,” Suffolk said of the Boyne Mountain Invitational the Rams hosted to start the season, during which they defeated Division 3 No. 12 Grass Lake but lost to Division 2 No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, No. 9 Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, top-ranked Warren De La Salle Collegiate, Division 3 top-ranked Detroit Country Day and No. 3 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
“It gave our boys a chance to play against some really high-level teams and push their limits early.”
Pushing limits has been one of Suffolk’s strategies since taking over the program.
“We haven't won a conference since 2017, and that's one of our team goals,” he acknowledged. “We've tried to push our limits a little bit further. We're building upon some serious momentum we've had the last couple of years, and we have our eye on making a deeper run come playoff time this year.”
The Rams last advanced to the MHSAA Semifinals in 2002, falling 3-2 to the eventual Division 4 champion Hudsonville Freedom Baptist. Harbor Springs’ last conference title was achieved in the Lake Michigan Conference, which was dominated by Elk Rapids and is no longer in existence. Most of the same teams from that conference now belong to the Northern Shores League.
The Rams, in the midst of playing home and away games in the 10-team conference, are already looking ahead to the prospects or a third-straight District championship. The other teams in that bracket are Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian, Charlevoix, Harbor Light Christian, Mackinaw Island and Cooks Big Bay de Noc.
Regional play is also something on which the Rams already have set their sights. Last year’s Division 4 champion Muskegon Western Michigan Christian knocked out the Rams last year and could be an opponent again this fall. Leland, which topped Harbor Springs in a Regional Final two years ago, could also be a Regional foe again.
There are two Harbor Springs players named Juneau. Henry’s younger brother, Cliff, is a freshman this year. The brothers are already teaming up to be something special.
“Henry’s a lethal goal scorer and he has a great supporting cast, including his little brother,” Suffolk proclaimed. “Watching those two work together is really cool, and you can kind of see the future.”
Despite a huge size difference compared to his older brother, the younger Juneau is already gaining attention.
“Cliff comes up to Henry's shoulders right now,” Suffolk pointed out. “But he's trying all the same things, and he's finding a lot of success. He's already a critical part of our team.”
Henry Juneau has become a role model for his little brother and pretty much everyone in the Rams’ small community, Suffolk points out. The Juneaus live across the street from their coach, and Henry is the best friend of the coach’s son, eighth-grader Jack Suffolk.
“Henry is someone the kids can really look up to as a good role model,” Suffolk said. “They see his work ethic, and they see him putting in year-round work on his craft.”
Both Suffolk and Henry Juneau point to their special coach-player relationship as a key to the Rams’ continued success.
“I want excellence out of these kids, and I know we're never going to get perfection,” Suffolk said. “I demand excellence and as unstoppable as Henry is, we still have tough conversations.”
Juneau carries great appreciation for his coach’s demands.
“We have a great relationship, and it's fun to work with him every day through the season,” he said. “But, yes, he has a high standard and it's what pushes me to be better and our whole team to be better. And if we didn't have it, we wouldn't be where we are right now.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Harbor Springs’ Henry Juneau (11) works to get control of the ball in front of the net. (Middle) Juneau stands among his teammates during a game. (Photos by Rob DeForge/RD Sports Photo.)