Highlight Reel: Boys Soccer Finals
November 7, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, Mason, Grand Rapids South Christian and Burton Genesee Christian won MHSAA boys soccer championships Saturday.
Click below for MHSAA.tv highlights from all four games, plus links to watch them in full.
Division 1
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 2, Canton 0
Rangers First Goal - Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central scored once in each half in the Division 1 title game against Canton. Anthony Bowie gets the first tally with 17:25 left in the period.
Insurance Goal By Haji - With 1:30 left to play, Forest Hills Central gets its second goal, by Mohamed Haji.
Watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Division 2
Mason 3, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern 2 (Shootout)
VanNortwick Blast - Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern scored first in the Division 2 title game with Mason. Evan VanNortwick's blast from way out found the top of the net with 15:13 left in the first half.
Bulldogs Tie It - Early in the second half, Mason's Christian Jordan heads in a corner kick to tied the score at 1-1.
Barrington Bangs It In - Things looked good for Forest Hills Northern when Travis Barrington headed in a cross with 2:32 left against Mason to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead.
Wild Goal Ties It Again - In a wild play in front of the net, Mason's Christian Jordan gets the goal with 38 seconds left in regulation to tie the game against Forest Hills Northern at 2-2.
Shefkiu Finishes It - On the final kick of the shootout, Mason's Lirim Shefkiu scores to give the Bulldogs the Division 2 title.
Watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Division 3
Grand Rapids South Christian 1, Williamston 0 (Shootout)
Selvius Stops - The big save in the shootout for Grand Rapids South Christian came when Sailors keeper Carter Selvius stopped a shot by Austin Brown of Williamston.
Championship Kick - In the shootout, Zach DeKock scored the winning goal for Grand Rapids South Christian.
Watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Division 4
Genesee Christian 3, Kalamazoo Hackett 2 (OT)
Soldiers Score First - Cole Russell gets the game's first goal with 10:01 left in the first half for Genesee Christian.
Knoll Goal - Kalamazoo Hackett ties the game 10 minutes into the second half when Will Knoll directs the ball in off a restart.
Rose Smelling Sweet - Genesee Christian took a momentary lead with nine minutes left in regulation when Tyler Rose scored.
Amat Knocks Down The Door - Hackett tied the game at 2-2 with 7:11 left in regulation when James Amat knocked in Max Keenan's free kick.
Oliver’s Twist For The Win - Jesse Oliver got the game winner for Genesee Christian with about a minute left in the first overtime period.
Watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
PHOTO: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s Mohamed Haji (10) had one of his team’s two goals in the Division 1 Final.
Ford Field Trip Gives Students Taste of Football Finals Broadcasting
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
December 7, 2021
Four levels above them, in the press box, a group of prospective broadcasters were touring the facilities. The high school students had spent the Fall sports season streaming games to the NFHS Network and now were learning about a career in broadcasting from Eric Vandefifer, a Montrose High grad currently serving as the radio voice of Saginaw Valley State University basketball and as a contributor to a variety of high school broadcast channels including the MHSAA Network.
Seven years ago, Vandefifer was in a similar situation. He was part of a field trip to Ford Field for the Finals that helped him realize sports broadcasting was a career he wanted to pursue. Those field trips were headed by Tom Skinner and Thom Lengyel, who became mentors to Vandefifer. As a high school junior in 2017, Vandefifer was named Best Student Broadcaster nationally by the NFHS Network.
“With Tom Skinner now deceased and Thom Lengyel retired from the broadcast business, I just felt like I had to continue this and their legacy,” Vandefifer said. “It was important to me to keep it going because when I was in school, it was something I looked forward to.”
Nearly 50 students from Lowell, Montrose, Lake Orion, Mount Pleasant and Ann Arbor Greenhills high schools made the Nov. 26-27 trip to Ford Field. They were able to film highlights, interview players, practice announcing the games, meet other members of the press and more. For Vandefifer, giving back to students who are in the position he once was is very rewarding.
“We had the ability to feel like real media members for a day. I wanted to be able to give other students that same opportunity,” Vandefifer said. “Seeing kids who have a love for sportscasting and that drive to get better gives me real hope for the next generation in this business.”
And after the field trips were done each day, Vandefifer put his headphones on, got behind the microphone and called the two afternoon games for the MHSAA Championship Network.
PHOTOS (Top) Eighth grader Sam Belill, left, and freshman Owen Leitelt from Montrose practice calling a game from the Ford Field press box. (Middle) Mount Pleasant make a stop at the press conference room. (Photos provided by the Montrose and Mount Pleasant School Broadcast Programs.)