Did you see that? (10/15-10/21)
October 22, 2012
Three MHSAA fall sports came to an end over the weekend, and the tournament for a fourth has begun. Those finishes highlight the non-football best from the week that was Oct. 15-21.
Golf
Rankings play out: The Lower Peninsula girls season came to a close with all four top-ranked teams claiming championships. Plymouth won its first MHSAA title in any sport in Division 1, while Mona Shores became the first Lower Peninsula girls golf team to win four straight by doing so in Division 2. Ada Forest Hills Eastern made it two titles in three seasons by winning Division 3, and Lansing Catholic won its third straight in Division 4. Second Half covered them all. (Division 1) (Division 2) (Division 3) (Division 4)
Tennis
Dynasties continue: Three of four top-ranked teams also won MHSAA Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals over the weekend, with the other champion hardly unfamiliar with first place. Ann Arbor Huron was ranked only No. 3 before winning Division 1 for the third time in five seasons. Midland Dow won its fourth straight Division 2 title and Ann Arbor Greenhills won its fifth straight in Division 4. But the biggest headline goes to Detroit Country Day, which tied Ann Arbor Pioneers’ dominance in 2002 with 39 points in claiming the Division 3 title. Second Half also covered all four of these Finals.(Division 1) (Division 2) (Division 3) (Division 4)
Cross country
One streak ends, another begins: The Upper Peninsula season came to an end with its Finals for three divisions. Calumet’s Tara Kiilunen led her team to the Division 1 girls title by winning the individual championship for the fourth consecutive season. On the boys side, Sault Ste. Marie won its first title in 11 years thanks to the individual Division 1 championship of freshman Parker Scott, who finished this season undefeated. Second Half covered all the races. (Girls Finals) (Boys Finals)
Soccer
Powers emerge in Division 1: Lower Peninsula Districts whittled the number of teams still alive down to 64 – 16 in each of four divisions. And the two toughest Districts to navigate were arguably in Division 1. Top-ranked East Kentwood beat Caledonia 6-0 to win that District, but only after the Falcons knocked out No. 2 Rockford in a semifinal and the Rams did the same to No. 7 Okemos in an opener. Rochester Stoney Creek, ranked No. 4, emerged from a district at Rochester that included No. 9 Utica Eisenhower and honorable mention Troy Athens by beating Rochester Adams 2-1 in the title game – after Adams upset Eisenhower in a semi. (Grand Rapids Press) (Oakland Press)
Anchored By Current Star, Dedicated to Past, Stoney Creek Surges Late for D1 Win
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
June 17, 2023
EAST LANSING – Rochester Hills Stoney Creek’s MHSAA Division 1 girls soccer championship battle against Hudsonville was expected to be a low-scoring, high-energy battle Saturday afternoon at DeMartin Field.
It lived up to the billing – and for the Cougars, so much more.
Stoney Creek scored two goals over the final 8 minutes, 41 seconds, both from reigning Miss Soccer Award winner Lilley Bosley, to claim the title with a 2-1 victory.
Bottled up for most of the game, Bosley – headed next to Michigan – bounced in a rebound with 1:49 left to stun the Eagles. It was her 52nd goal of the season.
“We’ve been waiting for this,’’ said Bosley. “We worked in practice on switching the field on the long balls. We recognized on film that they over-shift a lot, and they’re very ball-oriented. That score came off us switching the field. We had a diagonal ball, and then I got our momentum going.’’
Hudsonville (19-3-2) shadowed Bosley all afternoon, including with freshman Lauren Moylan – who was fantastic as a defender and playmaker.
“You put (Bosley) in the midfield, but they had that girl marking her the whole time,’’ said Stoney Creek coach Bryan Mittelstadt. “They had a couple behind her. We had to move her around a little bit to get her more active. We pushed her up a little bit higher. We dropped her a little higher and put her on the left. We tried to mess up their shape a little bit. She puts herself in places where she can be effective.’’
On her winning goal, Bosley said: “We scored a lot of our goals on set pieces. We have really good corner takers. Ava Avripas and Kaeli Butcher are fantastic on the corners. They are very accurate. We knew that we were going to get on the end of one of the corners to score.
“I really thought (today) I had more space than I normally do.’’
Senior defender Lily Solek was playing for the family’s second soccer title, and with her teammates was driven by the memory of her older sister who starred for the Cougars the first time they won it all.
Emily Solek scored the only goal in Stoney Creek’s championship win over Canton on June 17, 2016 – the same date as this victory, seven year ago. A multi-sport standout for the Cougars, Emily Solek died in 2020 after a car crash.
“I had two sisters on that team,’’ said Lily Solek. “Today would have been Emily’s 24th birthday. This means so much. Seven years to the day she scored the winning goal in PK for our state title.’’
Said Bosley: “Lily is my best friend. We’ve been together since little kids. We dedicated this to Emily. It was seven years to the day. With this being her birthday, it just makes it so much better.’’
The Cougars (26-1-1) had defeated top-ranked Rochester High, No. 12 Utica Eisenhower and No. 15 Saline during its run. Hudsonville advanced with wins over No. 2 Northville and No. 7 Portage Central, and hadn’t given up a goal in the playoffs before Bosley’s first Saturday.
Eagles coach Holly VanNoord was a record-setting keeper a decade ago at Unity Christian, which won the Division 3 title Friday, and Hudsonville High also had closed the regular season with a 1-1 draw against her alma mater.
There was plenty of action Saturday but no scoring until senior Raeleigh Woodwyk (playing next at Grand Valley State) booted in a rebound off a shot by Moylan that hit the crossbar to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead 12 minutes into the game.
Stoney Creek’s Madeline McGinlay did her best to tie the score with 15 minutes remaining in the first half, but her shot was deflected over the net.
Junior keeper Reid DeGoede was brilliant for Hudsonville during the first half, and all-state senior Clara Feenstra, next playing at Hope College, took over to start the second and blocked a shot off a centering pass that seemed destined to score.
Bosley finally got loose and tied the game at 1-1 with 8:41 to play off an assist from Megan Kennedy.
PHOTOS (Top) Stoney Creek’s Lily Solek (8) moves the ball upfield during Saturday’s Division 1 Final. (Middle) Hudsonville’s Raeleigh Woodwyk (9) celebrates her goal. (Below) The Cougars’ Laura Palmer (14) and Jessica Kennedy celebrate. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)