WARREN — There was no hesitation for Andrew Corder about whom he would make the recipient of this thank-you note. 

Each Thanksgiving, students at Warren De La Salle Collegiate are asked to write a note to a teacher or coach at the school detailing why they are thankful for them and the positive influences they’ve had on their lives.

Last year, Corder, who is now a senior soccer standout at De La Salle, chose to write a note to longtime teacher and soccer coach Thaier Mukhtar, essentially thanking him for an impactful decision that was made when Corder was a freshman. 

Throughout his club soccer days growing up, Corder primarily played as a defender/center back. But when he arrived at De La Salle, Mukhtar had other ideas and put him at forward.

“I think it said, ‘Thank you for everything you’ve done, or like, thank you for putting me at forward,’” Corder said of what was written in the note. “‘I wouldn’t be where I am today if you didn’t do that.’ Something like that.”

That decision certainly changed the course of Corder’s soccer career and the history books for De La Salle’s tradition-rich program. 

The Pilots have had a lot of great players, but Corder has achieved statistics unmatched in program history.

Last year, Corder broke the single-season goals record when he netted 38, overtaking the previous set by Brady O’Toole (31) in 1987. 

Earlier this year, Corder also surpassed O’Toole (who scored 74 career goals) as the school’s all-time goal-scoring leader, and Corder also became the program’s all-time points leader.

To achieve the latter, Corder surpassed De La Salle legend Brian Maisonneuve, the Mr. Soccer Award winner in 1990 who went on at Indiana to win the Hermann Trophy as the nation’s top college soccer player before an extensive career with the Columbus Crew.

Maisonneuve, who had 104 career points at De La Salle, is currently the men’s soccer head coach at Ohio State and is showing interest in Corder as a college prospect. 

“It means a lot, and I’m grateful,” said Corder, who had a goal and three assists in a Division 2 District game Thursday against St. Clair to run his career total to 90 goals, 19 of which have come this year despite constant double and triple teams. 

Mukhtar said the big motivation for putting Corder at forward when he was a freshman was De La Salle had been decimated by graduation losses heading into that season, and putting Corder up top gave the team its best chance to win. 

Admittedly, Mukhtar is a hard coach to please – and he has made it a point to push Corder equally as hard as everyone else on the roster. 

However, it speaks to what Corder’s done that he not only has embraced that type of coaching but has earned such high praise from Mukhtar.

“Andrew is the most explosive and dynamic offensive player I’ve coached in my 43-year career,” Mukhtar said. 

There also hasn’t been anything cheap about Corder’s stats. De La Salle always plays a tough schedule including several bigger schools that often are ranked, so he’s not simply feasting on inferior competition.

“We’re fortunate that when you have someone like that, it doesn’t matter who you play, you can always find a way to win the game because of his ability to lift a team offensively,” Mukhtar said. 

Corder could also pass as a great historian for the De La Salle program, given his father played there and was part of two Class A championship teams during the 1990s, and Andrew grew up attending camps at the school. 

There is plenty of motivation in the coming weeks for Corder to be a part of a third-straight Division 2 championship team at De La Salle. One, it would mean he wins one more Finals title than his father did. Two, De La Salle would become the first Division 1 or Division 2 program to win three straight Finals championships.

“Coach says it all the time and tries to motivate us,” Corder said. 

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) De La Salle’s Andrew Corder (14) makes a break toward the goal during last season’s Division 2 championship win over Hudsonville Unity Christian. (Middle) Corder wears his championship medal.