Preview: Stories of Glory Soon to be Told
November 2, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Tying together all four MHSAA Boys Soccer Finals to a common theme is impossible this season. But all four games have stories to tell.
In Division 1, Ann Arbor Skyline is ranked and facing an unranked opponent – but that unranked opponent is the most frequent champ of this decade, East Kentwood. In Division 2, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern is top-ranked and expected to win its first boys soccer championship – but takes on another of the most successful programs in state history in Detroit Country Day.
Division 3 pits the top two-ranked teams at the end of the regular season – Grosse Ile and Hudsonville Unity Christian. Division 4 offers Leland a chance to also win its first MHSAA title in boys soccer – but the Comets must face Ann Arbor Greenhills, coming off its first title won just a year ago.
Saturday's Finals kick off at noon and 3 p.m., with Division 3 followed by Division 1 at Novi and Division 4 followed by Division 2 at Comstock Park. All will be broadcast live and viewable with subscription on MHSAA.tv, with audio available on MHSAANetwork.com. See below for glances at all eight finalists, and come back to Second Half later Saturday for coverage of all four championship games.
Division 1
ANN ARBOR SKYLINE
Record/rank: 16-4-2, No. 10
Coach: Chris Morgan, eighth season (119-31-37)
League finish: Second in Southeastern Conference Red.
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2013.
Players to watch: Gabe Kellman, soph. M (8 goals, 5 assists); Bryce Schaner, jr. F (7 goals, 1 assist); Oskar Shiomi-Jensen, jr. F (6 goals, 2 assists); Kyri Wixom, sr. GK (0.54 goals-against average).
Outlook: Skyline quickly found itself as one of the few ranked teams left in the Division 1 tournament, helping that effort by knocking out No. 3 Saline in the District Final – which also avenged two of Skyline’s losses. The Eagles have given up only one goal during the postseason – to Warren DeLaSalle in the Semifinal – and allowed 11 goals total this fall. Wixom is a rock in goal behind a defense of seniors Tobin Brenner, Marco Althoen, Omar Hassan and junior Jamie Palms.
EAST KENTWOOD
Record/rank: 17-3-4, unranked
Coach: John Conlon, 19th season (351-58-45)
League finish: Fourth in Ottawa-Kent Conference Red
Championship history: Five Division 1 titles (most recent 2016).
Players to watch: Giuseppe Calabrese, sr. M (14 goals, 14 assists); Damir Sabanovic, sr. M (7 assists); Uriel Garcia, sr. M (13 goals, 4 assists); Louis Schultz, jr. GK (0.52 goals-against average, 12 shutouts).
Outlook: The Falcons are playing for their sixth championship in 12 seasons and peaking at the best time with five straight shutouts – including one that eliminated No. 7 Midland Dow in a Regional Semifinal. Schultz has saved 91 percent of shots he’s faced, and East Kentwood hasn’t given up more than two goals in a game – and has given up more than one only three times.
Division 2
DETROIT COUNTRY DAY
Record/rank: 19-5-2, unranked
Coach: Steve Bossert, fourth season (58-28-10)
League finish: Does not play in a league.
Championship history: 14 MHSAA titles (most recent 2011), one runner-up finish.
Players to watch: Kevin Tang, sr. M (15 goals, 9 assists); Gabe Akeel, sr. M (15 goals, 10 assists); Elbert Yi, sr. M (5 goals, 8 assists); Jon Dougherty, sr. GK (11 shutouts).
Outlook: After previously playing in Division 3, Country Day is seeking its first Division 2 championship with an experienced group coming off its second straight Regional title. Additionally, Bossert was an assistant for six of the past Finals championships. Dougherty made the Division 3 all-state second team last season, and Yi and sophomore forward Justin Harris (6 goals, 6 assists this fall) earned honorable mentions.
GRAND RAPIDS FOREST HILLS NORTHERN
Record/rank: 23-0-1, No. 1
Coach: Daniel Siminski, fifth season (94-10-12)
League finish: First in O-K White.
Championship history: Division 2 runner-up 2015.
Players to watch: Nate Texer, sr. F (25 goals, 6 assists); Jordan Okito, sr. F (17 goals, 13 assists); Jonathan Kliewer, jr. GK (0.43 goals-against average, 14 shutouts); Aiden O’Connor, jr. D.
Outlook: Forest Hills Northern’s seniors were freshmen when the team fell in a shootout in their first championship match appearance in 2015, and they’ve been aiming for this opportunity. The Huskies have outscored their five postseason opponents by a combined 26-3, avenging their lone non-win this fall (a draw against Grand Rapids Northview) with a 3-1 District Semifinal victory. Okito made the all-state second team and O’Connor the third last season.
Division 3
GROSSE ILE
Record/rank: 27-1, No. 1
Coach: Jon Evans, third season (74-5-2)
League finish: First in Huron League.
Championship history: Division 3 champion 2002.
Players to watch: Brendan Eblin, sr. GK (0.36 goals-against average, 22 shutouts); Christian Drzyzga, sr. M (9 goals, 11 assists); Jacob Sawicki, sr. M (52 goals, 21 assists); Benedek Tanyi, jr M (30 goals, 15 assists).
Outlook: After suffering its lone loss last season to Country Day in a Regional Final, Grosse Ile is playing in its first Final since 2002 and with just an early defeat to Detroit U-D Jesuit. After that loss, the Red Devils went on a run of 21 straight shutouts (including the last over No. 3 Lansing Catholic) before giving up a goal in their Regional Final win – and they came back with another shutout in the Semifinal. Sawicki made the all-state second team last season, and Eblin, Drzyzga and Tanyi all earned honorable mentions. Junior midfielder Max Aston added 13 goals entering the week.
HUDSONVILLE UNITY CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 22-2-1, No. 2
Coach: Randy Heethuis, 25th season (465-79-42)
League finish: First in O-K Green.
Championship history: Four MHSAA titles (most recent 2014), four runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Kadin Shaban, jr. F (29 goals, 20 assists); Evan Nieuwenhuis, jr. D (12 goals, 3 assists); Chase Rozeveld, sr. F (13 goals, 4 assists); Grant Balcer, jr. GK (0.27 goals-against average, 17 shutouts).
Outlook: Unity Christian won its first Regional title since 2014 and after suffering its lone defeat a year ago in a Regional Semifinal to Grand Rapids South Christian – which Unity beat in the District this year. The Crusaders eliminated the No. 5 Sailors, No. 7 Paw Paw and No. 9 Ludington during this run. Shaban made the all-state first team as a sophomore, and senior midfielder Dan Hoeksema is another key cog offensively with eight goals and 10 assists entering the week.
Division 4
ANN ARBOR GREENHILLS
Record/rank: 11-8-3, unranked
Coach: Lucian Popescu, ninth season (149-68-17)
League finish: Third in Detroit Catholic League AA
Championship history: Division 4 champion in 2017, three runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Zachary Zimmerman, sr. M (31 goals, 9 assists); Leo Fried, sr. GK (1.35 goals-against average, 6 shutouts); Robert Keller, sr. M (1 goal, 6 assists); Neil Bazaj, sr. M (2 goals, 10 assists).
Outlook: Greenhills entered the postseason unranked and with a sub-.500 record, but has outscored six playoff opponents by a combined 22-2 and eliminated No. 6 Adrian Lenawee Christian and No. 4 Burton Genesee Christian. Zimmerman made the all-state first team last season, and Fried and Bazaj also were among standouts on the championship team.
LELAND
Record/rank: 23-1-3, No. 2
Coach: Joe Burda, ninth season (177-38-10)
League finish: First in Northwest Conference.
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Cobe Lund, sr. F (41 goals, 18 assists); Owen Kareck, jr. D (5 goals, 3 assists); Nick Saffell, sr. F (16 goals, 11 assists); Michael Roberts, jr. M (24 goals, 6 assists).
Outlook: After seven straight league, six District and two Regional titles over the last seven seasons, Leland will play for an MHSAA championship for the first time. The Comets’ only loss came in the second game of the season, against Cadillac, and the only goals they’ve given up in six postseason games were two to No. 3 Kalamazoo Hackett in the Semifinal (not counting two penalty kicks in the shootout portion of a 1-0 win over top-ranked Muskegon Western Michigan Christian in the Regional Final). Lund made the all-state first team last season, and Kareck and Saffell earned honorable mentions.
PHOTO: Ann Arbor Greenhills' Neil Bazaj passes upfield to a teammate during last season's Division 4 championship win.
Star Seniors Emerge Amid Tragic Losses to Lead Manistee on Historic Playoff Run
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
November 7, 2025
This fall’s high school boys soccer season is in the books, and Manistee advanced to the Division 3 Regional Finals for the first time since 2008 with Max Scharp and James Jados leading the way.
Coach Brandon Prince is prepared to never have players like Scharp and Jados again. The senior duo was a once-in-a-lifetime combination.
But there was so much more to their stories.
“I think it says a lot about the characters of Max and James to keep doing what they did and also says a lot about the support groups they have behind them,” said Prince, who completed his 14th season at Manistee. “They never showed hardship from what they were experiencing outside. They just kept the focus on the team and what the team goals were.”
Scharp scored the District championship game’s only goal as the day marked the four-year anniversary of the death of his mother, Jessica. She lost a seven-year battle with breast cancer when Scharp was an eighth grader and older brother Jacob a freshman in the midst of helping Manistee make a run to the Regional Semifinals.
“I wanted to keep going in all kinds of ways — it was pretty emotional, and it kind of inspired me,” said Max Scharp, who suffered an ankle sprain in two spots as the Mariners earned a 4-3 shootout win over Standish-Sterling in the Regional Semifinal on Oct. 21. “She always liked to watch me play soccer.”
Scharp had 23 goals and 17 assists this season and was named to the all-West Michigan Conference first team and third-team all-state by the state coaches association.
He pointed to the sky after he scored the winning goal in the District Final win over Montague. Scharp then scored two goals in the Regional Semifinal as Jados, an all-conference center back, scored the deciding shootout goal advancing the Mariners to the Regional Final in Clare – where their season ended with a 4-1 loss to then-undefeated Fremont.
Jados almost didn’t have a high school soccer career. He played as a youth but had no intention of joining the Mariners until he was encouraged to play by assistant coach Wendy Adamski.
This season, as the Mariners were about to host rival Ludington on Sept. 10, Jados lost his home, two dogs and cat in a fire. He vividly recalls watching the house burn with Prince alongside him.
“We were sitting up in front of the house and it was still burning, but Coach showed up for me and I knew I had to show up for the guys,” Jados said. “I told him I'd be there and got a ride over there. I told Coach I had to take care of business at home."
The Mariners took a 1-0 lead on Ludington but eventually fell 3-1. The team wasn’t told about the fire until after the game was over.
“I ran down to see him and his family before the game, and I was talking to James and his dad and I said, ‘Don't worry about us, we'll take it from here, but if you need something, you let us know,” Prince recalled of the conversation at the disaster site. “I remember, and here's the emotion in that moment, he kind of pulled my arm and he says, ‘I'll see you in a minute. We've got something to do.’”
Jados played all 80 minutes that day.
“James was dealing with the circumstances that you know, a 17-year-old young man probably shouldn't have to, but he did, and he did it with such maturity and composure,” Prince said. “I think that says a lot about James.”
Jados and Scharp were two of five seniors on the Mariners squad that finished 12-9-1 and featured a sophomore goalkeeper. Lane Piper, who finished the year with 155 saves. The senior leadership was key to the Mariners’ success as they also saw 15 freshmen, one sophomore and a couple of juniors come out for soccer in August.
Prince said he knew from the beginning of the season that Manistee would find success. He noted he’s had great players and great squads in the past, but this year’s team was unique. The team’s goal was to go as far as possible – together.
“We put the team first and the program first, and they never stopped believing that they could be doing something special,” Prince said. “And, you know, being in this sport as long as I have, I can honestly tell you these kids were special in a way that I don't think I've seen on other teams.”
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) At left, Manistee’s James Jados (5) looks to his team’s bench after scoring the game-clinching goal in the Mariners’ Regional Semifinal win. At right, Max Scharp (10) celebrates his goal in the victory. (Middle) Manistee coach Brandon Prince, far right, talks to his team. Scharp is to his immediate right. (Photos courtesy of the Traverse City Record-Eagle.)