Soccer: Detroit Domination

November 5, 2011

One team won an MHSAA title for the first time, another for the first in nearly two decades. And two more added to a significant pile of soccer championship trophies.

But the tie that binds all four of this season's Finals champions is location -- all four are suburban powers near the big city in the southeastern corner of the state.

Here's a rundown of Saturday's Finals:

Division 1

Daniel Ovesea's goal from just inside the midfield stripe gave Canton its first MHSAA Boys Soccer title since a Class A trophy in 1994, with a 1-0 win over Grand Haven.

Ovesea's boot lofted high over a group of players in front of the goal behind the Buccaneers keeper Ethan Beswick.

Canton (24-1-2) and Grand Haven (18-2-3) played to a scoreless first half and seemed headed to overtime prior to Oversea's goal.

The Chiefs got stellar play from netminder Steven Murphy, who stopped 10 shots in the victory.

Divison 2

One school was guaranteed its first MHSAA Boys Soccer crown in the Division 2 Final, as both Auburn Hills Avondale and Spring Lake were making first appearances in the championship contest.

In the end, it was Avondale hoisting the trophy following a 2-1 win over the Lakers.

Spring Lake (23-2) struck first with the only goal of the first half, a Tanner Berg tally at 35:45.

Avondale (18-5-2) got the equalizer early in the second half on Joe Davison's goal, and with just 1:53 to play, Skyler Russ nailed the clincher to give the Yellowjackets their first championship.

Spring Lake outshot Avondale, 18-11. Ben Richter got the win in goal for the Yellowjackets, while Harry Kriger stood tall in net for Spring Lake despite the loss.

Division 3

Detroit Country Day captured its MHSAA-record 13th boys soccer title with a 2-1 victory over another perennial power, Hudsonville Unity Christian.

The Yellow Jackets (20-4-1) fell behind just 5:28 into the contest, as Unity Christian's Jared Haverkamp found the net with an assist from Jake Love to put the Crusaders on top.

The lead was short-lived, however, as DCD's Dean Akeel evened things up with a marker at the 10:20 mark of the opening half.

Country Day got the game-winner from Oliver Harris 18:02 into the second half, and the defense held strong from there.

Unity Christian (24-1-1) outshot Country Day, 14-7, but it was not enough for the Crusaders to avoid their first loss of the season.

Country Day's Zachary Walker got the win in goal, while Unity's Zach Lier made six saves in the defeat.

Division 4

Allen Park Inter-City Baptist won its seventh MHSAA Boys Soccer title, and first since back-to-back efforts in 2005-06, downing Muskegon Western Michigan Christian 1-0 in overtime.

Steven Fiema scored off an Evan Kraatz pass with 1:08 to play in the second overtime.

Learning as They Play, Algonac Boys Soccer Back on Pitch for 1st Time since 2016

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

September 18, 2024

Zeke Stiltner knew what he was signing up for when he agreed to join the Algonac boys soccer team.

Bay & ThumbAs a senior, joining a program that hadn’t taken the field since 2016, he wasn’t expecting many – if any – wins. He wasn’t looking for a grand send-off. He was simply happy to be there at the beginning of something new.

“It’s such a unique experience,” said Stiltner, who played travel soccer in California prior to moving to Algonac as a freshman. “You don’t get the opportunity to build a brand-new team and build a bit of a legacy.”

Stiltner and his Algonac teammates are part of a restarted program that has been dormant for eight years. While the team has begun 0-7, just being on the field at all is a success. And growing the team to 17 active players, with just four seniors and no juniors, is more than they could have imagined.

“I don’t think there was any expectation of measuring success with wins and losses and the record,” Algonac coach Lance Whitney said. “We all knew the wins and losses was probably not going to be great. Really, we went into the beginning of the year teaching the kids how to play soccer and have fun.”

It was Algonac wrestling coach Brian Ranger who had originally brought the idea of reviving the soccer program to Whitney when the latter began teaching in the district in 2022. The two had gone to high school and wrestled together at Richmond, and Ranger – who serves as the team’s assistant coach – was looking for something for his wrestlers to do in the offseason, as Algonac was also reviving its football program at the time.

“Half the team is wrestling kids,” Whitney said. “He kind of used it as a way for his wrestlers to do something other than nothing if they weren’t playing football or running cross country. Some of them came out because they just wanted to do something, and a lot of them were recruited by Ranger.”

Whitney had coached at Richmond for a decade, his last season with the boys in 2022. He’s also a coach at Thundercats travel club, where his daughter and Ranger’s daughter had played. 

That time included plenty of success and a good number of teams filled with experienced players. 

Algonac started this season with three players who had played organized soccer.

“I think for me, you change your whole approach,” Whitney said. “You have to kind of balance that I’m only going to teach them so much technical stuff in two and a half months, but I have to, at some point, teach them, ‘Here’s the formation. Here are positions. Here are responsibilities.’ What I did in August is brought them all together for a week and said, ‘This is how you strike a ball. How you pass. How you play defense.’ All the technical stuff you can do.

“I’m not pretending this is the type of team where we’re going to be able to drop a ball at the goalie’s feet and play out of the back. But we do at least one technical skill (in practice), then I treat them like I do any other team I coach, even my highest-level girls team. We do Rondos, possession – try and let the game teach them how to play.”

But even for the few experienced players, that first week was more than enough. Simply being on the field playing was a breath of fresh air.

“I enjoyed it,” senior Griffin Degowske said. “That first practice, it was just fun to be out there. I was just glad we had a team.”

Goal-setting and expectations were also on a different level for the Muskrats. After losing their first two matches by goal-differential rule in the first half, the goal was to get to a second half. When that was accomplished, the goal was to complete a game without a mercy rule ending it.

They’ve accomplished that in both of their past two games, even scoring their first goal since 2016 in a 7-1 loss to Armada on Sept. 12.

The goal was scored by freshman Oliver Geck off a corner kick. While it made the score 5-1 midway through the second half, you couldn’t tell from the celebration.

“They celebrated like they won the game,” Whitney said. “It was really awesome, especially for the kid that scored. Oliver is a freshman, and he’s never really played before. He’s a pretty athletic kid, and the ball was bouncing around and he struck it. We were close (to scoring again) a couple times (Monday) night.”

While the team is still growing skill wise, Whitney is continually impressed with what they’re giving him from an effort standpoint. The team’s toughness and athleticism – no doubt buoyed by the influx of wrestlers – also has stood out.

“Teaching them is a lot different than teaching a (kids) team since they were 6(-years-old), and they’re 13 now,” Whitney said. “But they’re starting to put things together. A lot of the things they do, they can get to the right place, they can move, they can get to where they need to be positionally. It’s just the lack of technical skills right now that will mess up plays.”

Most important, at least for the future of the program, are the numbers. With 17 on the roster and 13 eligible to come back for not just 2025, but 2026, there’s a clear path forward for Muskrats soccer.

“It is amazing,” Whitney said. “It’s a step in the right direction for the school and the program, and all of those kids individually, too.”

Paul CostanzoPaul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.

PHOTO Algonac’s Louis LaParl (2) clears the ball during a game against Croswell-Lexington. (Photo courtesy of the Algonac boys soccer program.)