Genesee Christian Ends Run "Perfectly"
November 7, 2015
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
BRIGHTON – A perfect season by the Burton Genesee Christian boys soccer team had a perfect finish.
Four-year senior Jesse Oliver scored in overtime to give the Soldiers the winning margin in a 3-2 victory over Kalamazoo Hackett on Saturday in the MHSAA Division 4 championship game at Brighton High School.
It is the first MHSAA state championship in any sport in school history.
“I would say that definitely was the perfect ending to the season,” Genesee Christian coach Doug Anderson said, moments after having a bucket of cold water dumped on his head.
Anderson didn’t mind the gesture.
“It’s definitely worth it because it means that we won,” he said. “I didn’t want to prepare a losing speech for these guys, and I didn’t have one ready.”
The feeling of scoring the game-winning goal in overtime was overwhelming for Oliver.
“It’s exhilarating. It’s amazing,” he said. “This isn’t something you get to do every day. I really didn’t expect it, but I was in the right spot at the right time.
“It’s surreal. It really is surreal.”
Genesee Christian (28-0) had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before being forced into the two 10-minute overtime sessions. Oliver broke the tie when he scored from right in front of the net on a pass from junior Riley Buchalski.
“The ball was at the end line, and it was juggling around a bit,” Oliver said. “I was crashing toward the middle, and the ball just shot out. I was in the right spot at the right time and put it in with my left foot.”
Oliver, who stands 6 feet, 5 inches, was not the most likely player to score the goal. But as a senior, it was a fitting finish.
“Jesse is my holding man,” Anderson said. “He has a couple of goals from set pieces and stuff, but he’s our stalwart back there; our workhorse, and I’m so happy for him. He has played all four years. He didn’t play a lot as a freshman, but he just kept getting better and better.”
Genesee Christian made it to the title game with a shootout victory over top-ranked Lansing Christian in the Semifinal.
“I’m sick and tired of these overtime games and the guys trying to give me a heart attack, but it does make it more exciting,” Anderson said. “Obviously, I would have liked to have a shutout, but it gets all the guys into it, and in the end we won, and that’s all that matters.”
Junior Cole Russell, who scored the first goal of the game for the Soldiers, praised both Oliver and Buchalski for the game-winning goal.
“Jesse’s composure to keep it down and put it in the back of the net to give us a 3-2 lead in the state championship game was unbelievable,” Russell said. “Riley was a beast in overtime. He was everywhere.”
Russell, a junior, gave Genesee Christian a 1-0 lead when he beat a defender and the goalkeeper, who came out of the net, and found the back post from about 30 yards out. Ryan DeWeese picked up an assist on the goal.
“Ryan DeWeese, it was all him,” Russell said. “The ball he gave me was unbelievable. I could not have asked for a better ball. I had the easy job, to be honest. It was all him.”
Russell also had an assist on Genesee Christian’s second goal. With the game tied 1-1, Russell got the ball to junior Tyler Rose in front of the net, and Rose scored on a header.
Kalamazoo Hackett (21-5-1) was in its fifth MHSAA championship game and first since 1995. The Irish had not lost in a Final and this time battled back twice from one-goal deficits.
Senior Will Knoll tied the game 1-1 in the 51st minute with an assist from Kieran O’Brien, and junior James Amat made it 2-2 in the 73rd minute on a free kick from 25 yards. The Irish scored twice on a team that had allowed just 10 goals in 27 games.
“Those were very quality goals by them, and they did frustrate us a little bit,” Anderson said. “They have a good team, and they played good defense against us.”
It was a highly entertaining game with several chances and close calls by both teams in addition to some fine saves by goalkeepers Zach Noecker (Genesee Christian) and Matthew Carpenter (Kalamazoo Hackett).
In particular, the last five minutes of the first half were thrilling. The highlight came when Carpenter was caught out of the goal, and the Irish players had to defend in his absence. Amat made two saves in a flurry in front of the net.
Russell nearly score in that span as well as his shot went just over the net and just under the crossbar on the goal posts used for football. He is one of many who have played together since the fourth grade.
“We had a feeling that when we were juniors and seniors that we were going to win the state championship, and we did,” Russell said. “Our teamwork is tremendous, and I am so proud of everyone who played on this team, from the person who played the least minutes to the player who played the most.
“We all put in the work for this, and we earned it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Genesee Christian's Riley Buchalski works to keep control of the ball during Saturday's Division 4 Final. (Middle) Kalamazoo Hackett's Jacob Wurtz tries to push the ball past a defender.
Huron to Take Next Step in Magnificent Rise with 1st Semifinal Appearance
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
October 28, 2025
When Luis Gomez Dominguez became a head soccer coach, he started thinking about what programs he wanted to emulate.
He found one in Troy Athens.
On Wednesday, Gomez-Dominguez gets a chance to knock Athens out of the playoffs and lift Ann Arbor Huron to the Division 1 Final.
“They do a great job,” Gomez-Dominguez said. “They do things the right way, even little things like having Grandparents Day. It’s a great program.”
New soccer coaches in the state would be on the right track if they start emulating what Gomez-Dominguez has done at Huron. He’s been head coach for seven seasons, oversees a program of nearly 90 soccer players, and Wednesday takes his 16-1-3 squad to Troy for a Semifinal game against the Red Hawks (14-3-4).
“I like to say it’s been a process, a three-year process,” Gomez-Dominguez said.
Last week the River Rats captured the school’s first Regional title. They won the Southeastern Conference and have steadily increased their number of wins each season, from four both of his first two seasons in 2019 and 2020 to 16 this year.
“We started building the program,” he said. “After COVID, our numbers just exploded.”
With the huge interest in soccer, Huron made the decision not to cut players.
Instead, the program drew up a plan for a freshman team, two junior varsity teams – an A and a B – and the varsity team.
“I think it gives players a clear path,” Gomez-Dominguez said. “You start with the program on the freshman team, progress to the first JV team as a sophomore, maybe play on the ‘A’ JV team as a junior and as a senior, you are ready to contribute to the varsity.”
Sometimes, of course, players jump that progression.
Three years ago, a substantial group of sophomores were on the varsity. Nasser Diarra, Kyle Johnsen, Kinley Poole, Philip Leucht, Amadou Sidibe and Matthew Pletcher all made the top team as the River Rats won 11 games.
“They were the core,” Gomez-Dominguez said. “We thought if we keep them together and add a few pieces around them, we would see the success.”
The plan worked. Those six are now seniors, part of an 18-senior varsity squad.
“We have a lot of experience,” Gomez-Dominguez said.
Poole is among the top scorers on the team with 12 goals and 10 assists. He’s a four-sport athlete at Huron, playing wide receiver on the football team, guard on the basketball team and sprinter in track. He’s likely to run track in college, Gomez-Dominguez said.
Pletcher is the starting goalkeeper. He’s allowed just four goals all season. Leucht has seven goals and three assists. Sidibe is a do-everything defender.
“He’s a lockdown defender,” Gomez-Dominguez said. “He’s our Swiss Army knife. He manages the other team’s attacking players. He can play anywhere on defense, and we line him up as a midfielder for defensive duties.”
Senior Malic Kasham is the team’s top goal scorer with 13. Jules Heskia has five goals, as does sophomore Kaito Yoshida.
Two more seniors – Unejs Ramaxhiku and Christopher Zou – joined the program this year after playing for MLS NEXT, a year-round club program. Zou has four goals and four assists.
“I think they saw the kind of fun we were having and wanted to be part of it,” Gomez-Dominguez said.
This season’s team, ranked No. 2 in Division 1, includes five sophomores and seven juniors.
The River Rats already have had a historic season when it comes to defense. They have given up just seven goals all fall.
“We are keeping an eye on the record book for that,” Gomez-Dominguez said.
The coach grew up in the Ann Arbor area, graduated from Pioneer and played college soccer at Madonna. He was an assistant coach with the River Rats when the head coach moved to California, and was named head coach. He has 65 wins over his seven seasons.
Huron has embraced a program-wide attitude. Gomez-Dominguez has five assistant coaches; the team is active on social media and lists its goals and expectations on a website dedicated to the program.
Huron defeated Troy Athens earlier this season, 2-1, but Gomez-Dominguez isn’t taking Wednesday’s game lightly.
“A lot has changed since then,” he said. “That game was played on a Saturday morning. It felt like a Saturday morning game. This one will be at night, at Troy High School, under the lights and we expect a big crowd. We are taking a fan bus. It will be a great atmosphere.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Ann Arbor Huron players stand for the national anthem before a game this season. (Middle) Andrew Rooks controls the ball as he charges up field. (Below) Kinley Poole (left) and Malic Kasham celebrate a moment. (Photos courtesy of the Ann Arbor Huron boys soccer program.)