Sharpened by OAA Red Schedule, Troy Becomes League's Latest to Win Finals Title
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 11, 2026
GRAND LEDGE — Technically, Troy won the Division 1 boys soccer title this past Saturday with a 2-1 win over Livonia Stevenson.
But the Colts probably felt like they also won a state championship when they captured the Oakland Activities Association Red title back in October.
It’s understandable, since it can’t be denied how powerful the OAA Red has been in recent years.
In four of the last five years, and five times since 2019, the Division 1 championship has been won by an OAA Red team – and the league might be on the verge of getting stronger.
With Northville, Novi, Davison and Grand Blanc set to join the OAA next year, the reclassified Red division should see at least one of those teams added to it, adding more muscle to a league that saw Rochester Adams win Division 1 titles in 2022 and 2024 and Troy Athens in 2019 and 2023.
“Seeing (Athens) win it a couple years ago and seeing Adams win it, that really put that fire in us and made us want to win it even more,” said Troy senior Ryan Wind.
The Colts actually did prove themselves different from those championship Adams teams and the Athens 2023 squad in a good way, since Troy became the first OAA Red school to win both a league and MHSAA Finals title in the same year since Athens did so in 2019.
“I knew it had to come,” Troy senior Kevin Garay said. “This is just a special group of guys, a special team and coaching staff. I knew this was the year.”
Make no mistake, playing in and conquering the challenging OAA Red schedule that included No. 7 Clarkston, No. 8 Seaholm, Athens, Oxford and Berkley made top-ranked Troy tough as nails going into the MHSAA Tournament.
Of note, Adams, ranked No. 5 in the state at regular season’s end, was in the OAA White this year, but will likely be back in the Red next fall.
“It’s the best league in the state in my opinion,” Troy head coach Adam Spinks said. “To play such tough competition week in and week out, when you hit the playoffs, it prepares you mentally and physically for those games.”
Troy’s District round of the state tournament was seemingly an OAA Red postseason tournament, with Athens, Berkley and Seaholm also in that bracket.
The Colts rightfully felt that if they could survive that, the path would be less rocky in Regionals and beyond.
Following a 4-2 win over Seaholm in the District Final, Troy was on its way.
“It’s the hardest league in the state, so it prepares you so well for the playoffs,” said Cole Cusmano, an important piece of Troy’s attack who had to miss the second half of the championship game win over Stevenson after suffering a foot injury during the first half.
“We definitely thought once we got past the District – and we were just taking it one game at a time – we knew we had our sights on something big this year.”
Troy certainly did, not only claiming its first Finals championship since 2003 but becoming just the 20th unbeaten champion in MHSAA history.
The big question over the offseason is how the OAA Red will officially be realigned for next year with four new members coming in. Northville – which fell to Livonia Steveson in overtime in District play – is a possibility to join the OAA Red and should add another powerhouse to the league.
It should no doubt make for an even more compelling regular season race next year, and the way things have gone over the last five, lead to an obvious conclusion: Whichever OAA Red team is the last one standing in next year’s playoffs should probably be considered the favorite to win the Division 1 title.
“It was exhausting,” Garay said of the OAA Red slate and tournament run. “It was really hard. But we went for it, and we earned it.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Troy’s Jack Bowen (10) and Niko Zhuli (8) celebrate Zhuli’s goal during Saturday’s Division 1 Final. (Middle) The Colts’ Kouta Cawood (11) makes a run at the goal. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Powers Writes End to Championship Story
November 2, 2013
By Greg Chrapek
Special to Second Half
TROY – When it comes to storybook endings, Flint Powers Catholic coach Tony Rowe has overseen one that is hard to beat.
With a 4-8 record at one point this season, Rowe and his Chargers were just hoping to climb to the .500 mark, let alone end up in the Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship game.
Not only did the Chargers right the ship, but they advanced to the Final in Troy where they defeated reigning champion Grand Rapids South Christian 1-0 after surviving overtime and prevailing 8-7 in a sudden-death penalty-kick shootout.
“It’s just unbelievable,” Rowe said. “It is a story book. We were 4-8 at one point this season. I told one of my friends that it was like a (ESPN) 30 for 30 feature. We just got on a roll at the right time and kept on rolling.”
Powers also played some air-tight defense in the title match. It survived heavy pressure from South Christian in the second half and overtime periods to get the game into a shootout, where anything can happen and did.
After 80 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime sessions, the game went to a penalty kick best of five round. After both teams missed their first attempts, South Christian took a 1-0 lead on a made shot from Nick VanderHorst.
Powers then missed its second attempt and after two rounds trailed 1-0. Both teams scored in the next two rounds with Taylor Buist and Austin Clark scoring for South Christian and Alex Clark and Brad Tuttle scoring for Powers.
Heading into the fifth round, South Christian was up 3-2 and needed just one more made shot to end the match.
The Sailors, however, came up short on their fifth shot, and on its last attempt Christian Mansour scored for Powers to tie the goals at 3-3 and force the match into penalty kick sudden death. Both teams scored in the next four rounds and the shootout was tied 7-7 heading into the fifth sudden death round.
That’s when Powers goalkeeper Stephen Wilbur came up with a diving save.
“I just tried to stay composed when everything is going crazy,” Wilbur said. “I go into a corner and keep quiet and try to keep focused.”
Wilbur’s save set the table for Powers sophomore Erich Ruth to win the game. Ruth stepped up to the ball and delivered as he sent a shot into the net.
“When I stepped up to the ball, I kept my eyes on one post the whole time,” Ruth said. “Then I shot it the other way. I just tried to keep my composure.”
After Ruth’s shot went in the Chargers erupted on to the field, their storybook finish complete.
“It’s just crazy,” Wilbur said. “It’s a dream come true.”
A dream the Chargers had to feel was far off when they were 4-8.
“We just kept working all season,” said Powers senior captain Charlie Emmert. “We went to practice every day and kept working. I told the guys the state finals are November 2 so keep your parking passes until November first.”
The Chargers also put in plenty of work on penalty kicks during their practices.
“We practice penalty kicks every day,” Emmert said. “Everyone practices them at the end of practice. That walk feels like a mile with everyone watching you take the kick.”
Powers had a couple of scoring opportunities during the first half. On its first opportunity, South Christian goalie Zac Medendorp used all of his 6-foot-7 frame when he made a diving stop and knocked a shot away.
South Christian (21-2-3) gained the momentum in the second half and applied heavy pressure on the offensive end. With seven minutes remaining in regulation, the Sailors came within inches of a go-ahead goal when VanderHorst whistled a shot that hit the crossbar dead on but bounced away.
The Sailors also carried the play in the two overtime sessions. Powers found it difficult to get the ball past midfield while coming under constant pressure from the South Christian offense.
“That’s the way it is; soccer can be a pretty cruel game at times,” South Christian coach Jason Boersma said. “These guys did everything they could. I thought the first half was evenly matched, but I thought we carried the play in the second half. They (Powers) didn’t get the ball over midfield much at all. We pressured them, and pressured them and pressured them but we could just not get one in the back of the net.
“Our guys feel like they won the game but lost the shootout. Give credit to Powers, they have a fantastic team and a fantastic program.”
The Chargers also had a defense that would bend but not break and a spirit that was the same.
“We played with all heart,” Mansour said. “We just never quit.”
Powers ended the season 14-8-2. The title was its first since winning in 1996.
“We didn’t think it was impossible to get to state,” Rowe said. “Anytime you play, you want to get to the state finals. These guys were just awesome.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Flint Powers' Erich Ruth (8) unloads what will become the winning shot in the Chargers' 1-0 sudden-death shootout win. (Middle) Powers' Reed Macksood (22) works past a pair of South Christian defenders including David Hubbard (21). (Click to see more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)