D2 Soccer Final: Marian Takes Top Spot
June 16, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
WILLIAMSTON – Bloomfield Hills Marian seniors Makenzie Larson, Alexa Finger and Hanna Pateryn were set to give everything they had this season, their last of high school soccer.
But after graduating 13 players from the 2011 team, and then adding six freshmen, the trio had no idea what they were getting themselves into this spring.
Turns out, it was a third MHSAA championship in four seasons.
Thanks in part to two goals by one of those freshmen, midfielder Kelly Sweeney, Marian downed reigning champion Plainwell 3-1 in Saturday’s Division 2 Final.
“Just to come back with all these freshmen; they worked so hard to keep these three seniors around to the very end,” Larson said. “All these underclassmen that stepped up for us, they brought so much energy to the team. They did an amazing job.”
Larson and Finger were on the Mustangs for all three championships, while Pateryn joined for the 2010 win. Total, Marian has won four MHSAA titles, all over the last decade.
The Mustangs (22-2-1) also had two sophomores this season. One, midfielder Julia Griessmann, got her team on the board 7:55 into the game.
The chances kept coming for both teams. Total, Marian outshot Plainwell 13-10, but the Mustangs capitalized with Sweeney’s two goals during the first nine minutes of the second half.
The Trojans (21-3-2) – which returned 15 players from last season’s title-winning team – did get on the board on junior Hope Pell’s goal with just less than 22 minutes to play. But they couldn’t come up with enough opportunities down the stretch to make it closer.
“I love my group,” Plainwell coach Chad Wiseman said. “They battled from the beginning of the season to the end of the season. We had some chances, and in a state title game you’ve probably got to capitalize on those chances.”
Larson has signed to play next season at Loyola University of California. Pateryn has signed to play at Northern Kentucky, while Finger will go to Butler University on an academic scholarship. The multitude of juniors and underclassmen certainly played a large part in this championship, but coach Barry Brodsky said it came down to the leadership of his three seniors coming off last season’s District opener loss.
“We made a point as a coaching staff to really stay on the seniors we have. These are quality kids and they bought in," he said. “If the seniors don’t buy in, you’re not going anywhere. But from the first day until last night at practice, they were all in 100 percent of the time.”
PHOTO: Bloomfield Hills Marian's Mackenzie Pohlman (13) battles for the ball with Plainwell's Makenzie Evers during Saturday's Division 2 Final at Williamston High School.
Flashback 100: Tarpley's Legendary Run Began as Portage Central's Miss Soccer
May 23, 2025
What Lindsay Tarpley went on to accomplish in soccer fills a list that quickly explains why she’s one of the all-time greats in U.S. history in the sport.
And what she accomplished at the high school level over her four years before graduating from Portage Central in 2002 remains the stuff of legends at our level as well.
Tarpley is best-known nationally as a key contributor to Olympic teams that won gold in 2004 in Athens and 2008 in Beijing, and also to World Cup teams that finished third in 2007 and runner-up in 2011. She was named College Soccer Player of the Year in 2003 after leading North Carolina to the NCAA Division I championship, and she went on to play professionally for multiple franchises.
She was named ESPN’s Youth Player of the Decade in 2010. Her game-winning goal in the final of the inaugural U-19 World Championships on Sept. 1, 2002, is considered one of the monumental goals in U.S. soccer history.
And only a few months earlier, she was completing a high school career as a headlining two-sport standout.
Tarpley played soccer and basketball for the Mustangs, earning four varsity letters in both sports. On the basketball court, she set multiple school records for steals and assists. But the soccer pitch is where she became one of the most storied athletes in state history.
Tarpley led Portage Central to a combined 85-7-4 record over her four soccer seasons, making the all-state Dream Team all four and earning the state’s Miss Soccer Award in 2002. She scored a career-high 50 goals as a freshman, and her 147 career goals remains tied for 15th in MHSAA history — and tied for third on that list when she graduated. Her 78 total points in 1999 was a state record at the time and is still 10th most in MHSAA history.
In the 2000 Division 2 Final, Tarpley scored the game’s first goal 1:38 into the first half, then assisted on both her team’s second goal and overtime winner as Central defeated Madison Heights Bishop Foley 3-2. The Mustangs finished that season 23-0-1.
Tarpley has continued to connect with Portage Central and youth athletics over the years. In 2020, she delivered the opening address at the MHSAA Women In Sports Leadership Conference in Lansing.
Previous "Flashback 100" Features
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May 6: MHSAA Titles Just Start for NCAA Champion, Olympian Stark - Read
May 1: Legendary Actor Played Multiple Sports Roles at Country Day - Read
April 23: Legacy Program Provided Start for Pioneering NBA Official Schroeder - Read
April 11: Rice's Championship-Winning Ways Started at Flint Northwestern - Read
March 28: Youngquist's Times Still Among MHSAA's Fastest - Read
March 18: After 40 Years, Coles' Shot Remains Among Century's Most Famous - Read
March 7: Walled Lake Northern's Hellebuyck Reigns as NHL's Elite Netminder - Read
Feb. 27: Zeerip's Mat Stats Remain Rarely-Challenged Chart Toppers - Read
Feb. 21: Before TV Stardom, Kerwin Excelled as All-State Skier - Read
Feb. 14: Detroit Central Star Voted into Pro Football Hall of Fame - Read
Feb. 6: Multi-Sport Star Look Becomes Super Bowl Officiating Legend - Read
Jan. 31: Johnson Family Put Magical Stamp on Michigan High School Hoops - Read
Jan. 24: Future Hall of Famers Face Off First in MHSAA Class A Final - Read
Jan. 17: First-Ever WNBA Draft Pick Rocked at Salem, Won Titles at Tennessee - Read
Jan. 10: Despite Launching Before 3-Point Line, Smith Still Tops Scoring List - Read
Jan. 3: Edison's Jackson Earns Place Among State's All-Time Elite - Read
Dec. 20: Future Olympian Piper Leads Grosse Pointe North to Historic Heights - Read
Dec. 13: The Other Mr. Forsythe in Michigan School Sports - Read
Dec. 6: Coleman's Legendary Heroics Carry Harrison Through Repeat - Read
Nov. 29: Harbaugh Brothers' Football Roots Planted in Part at Pioneer - Read
Nov. 22: 8-Player Football Finals Right at Home at Superior Dome - Read
Nov. 15: Leland Career Helps Set Stage for Glass' International Stardom - Read
Nov. 8: Future Baseball Pro Led Escanaba's Legendary Football Title Run - Read
Nov. 1: Michigan High School Baseball Trio Provide World Series Voices - Read
Oct. 25: Before Leading Free World, Ford Starred for Champion GR South - Read
Oct. 18: Mercy Links Legend Becomes World Golf Hall of Famer - Read
Oct. 11: Fisher Races to Finals Stardom on Way to U.S. Olympic First - Read
Oct. 4: Lalas Leaves High School Legacies on Ice & Pitch - Read
Sept. 27: Tamer's History-Making Run Starts in Dexter, Continues to Paris - Read
Sept. 20: Todd Martin’s Road to Greatness Starts at East Lansing - Read
Sept. 13: James Earl Jones, Dickson High Hoops to Hollywood Legend - Read
Sept. 6: Pioneers' Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons - Read
Aug. 30: Detroit dePorres Rushes to 1995 Class CC Football Championship - Read
PHOTO Lindsay Tarpley is seated front row, third from right, with her Portage Central teammates after their 2020 championship victory.