All-In Effort Drives Leland's Historic Run
November 9, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The most memorable season in Leland boys soccer history did not have the most championship-caliber beginning.
As the team’s annual three-night summer boot camp came to a close, it was obvious the Comets weren’t all physically ready for the rigors of the upcoming fall. Put another way, some of them just weren’t in shape.
It wasn’t a promising sign for a team looking to win its first MHSAA championship in the sport, especially a contender that’s had reams of success at the league and District levels over the last decade.
But a game-changing sign followed.
“As we were ending camp, Cobe (Lund) wanted to say something to the boys. He circled them up and asked, "Do you guys want to win states, (be)cause I do," Leland coach Joe Burda said. “He talked about how they had a short time to get into game shape, and how they weren't there yet.
“The boys came together that afternoon and set their goal for a state championship right then and there. They then spent the next couple of months achieving that goal.”
The MHSAA/Applebee’s “Team of the Month” for October lost only one game this season, to Cadillac during its opening tournament in August. The Comets finished 24-1-3, claiming the Division 4 title Saturday at Comstock Park with a 1-0 win over reigning champion Ann Arbor Greenhills.
Leland had never before played in an MHSAA Final in boys soccer. But over the last seven seasons including this one, the Comets had won seven league titles, six District and two Regional championships.
They finished October with a shootout 1-0 win over top-ranked Muskegon Western Michigan Christian and 3-2 Semifinal victory over No. 3 Kalamazoo Hackett and recently-named Mr. Soccer Award winner Brennan Creek. Leland had entered the postseason ranked No. 2 in Division 4 by the Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association.
The Comets finished this season outscoring their opponents 159-19 with 17 shutouts while never giving up more than two goals in a game. The scoring margin over seven MHSAA Tournament opponents was 34-2 (counting only the 1-0 in the shootout win over WMC).
It wasn’t necessarily the offense or the defense that keyed the run, however.
“It was this team, this group,” Burda said. “We were so strong at every position on the field. We had a great target in front of the goal, we had lightning speed on the flanks of the field. We had, I think, the most technical and smoothest trio in the midfield. We had lockdown defenders with an ultra-competitive center back, and then Gavin (Miller) wore the gloves in the back and made several highlight saves to keep us surviving and advancing.
“We had every inch of that pitch covered offensively and defensively, and most of all these guys trusted each other in every position and we never needed a hero.”
Six players earned all-state recognition. Senior forward Lund, junior forward Michael Roberts, junior defender Owen Kareck and sophomore keeper Gavin Miller all made the first team while senior midfielder Nick Saffell made the third and junior midfielder Andre Masse’ earned honorable mention.
Lund led the team offensively with 43 goals and 23 assists, while Roberts (24 goals), Saffell (16, 14 assists), Masse’ (15), senior forward Jack Munoz (19) and junior midfielder Jesus Calderon-Balcazar (18, 12 assists) all scored in double digits. Kareck (five goals, three assists) keyed the defense in front of Miller (0.93 goals-against average).
Senior defender Andy Mosqueda is among others who deserve special notice – as the shootout keeper in the Regional Final, he had two saves in the win over WMC. Sophomore center back JJ Popp, senior defender Colin Satterwhite and sophomore midfielder Wyatt Sirrine were among other top contributors.
“I think the biggest thing myself and the guys will remember is the support we had from the school and the community throughout the tournament run,” Burda said. “We filled both sides of those (Comstock Park) stands, those folks that couldn't make the trip sent us pictures of them gathering and watching on TV, and we arrived home led and followed by police cars and fire trucks, sirens and lights blaring. Everybody came out to greet the guys at the gym. … (it was) something everyone will remember.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2018-19
September: Pickford football – Read
August: Northville girls golf – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Leland players celebrate Jesus Calderon-Balcazar’s goal, which proved to be the game-winner, during last Saturday’s Division 4 Final against Ann Arbor Greenhills. (Middle) The Comets’ Wyatt Sirrine, right, works to keep possession against Greenhills’ Nikhil Shrinivasan.
Athens' Success Fueled by Players' Drive to be Part of School's Soccer Tradition
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 9, 2023
GRAND LEDGE — Troy Athens boys soccer coach Todd Heugh stood on the field Saturday at Grand Ledge High School and reflected while his team was celebrating with fans on the other side of the stadium.
Athens had just won its sixth state championship in school history with a 2-1 overtime triumph over Brighton in the Division 1 Final, and while talking about how his team won this particular title game, he also put a historical perspective on the key to the program’s success.
Heugh – also the school’s first-year athletic director – said that while any player who comes through the program obviously has ambitions to one day play college or professional soccer, there is something else that drives them more than anything.
“An advantage I think we have at Athens is that a lot of times, a lot of our kids, their goal in our city is to make the varsity soccer team at Athens,” Heugh said. “When they make it, they give it everything they have.”
This has pretty much been the pattern since legendary head coach Tim Storch built the program into one of the state’s gold standards during the 1980s and ’90s.
Heugh saw it firsthand growing up in the community and as a member of Storch’s squad that won the 1989 Class A title.
That motivation to be part of the fabled varsity has filtered all the way down to current players, who echo Heugh’s sentiments that desire No. 1 is to put on the Athens uniform once they get to high school.
“I went to Troy vs. Troy Athens games since I was in sixth grade,” said Athens senior Adriano Shauya, the team’s leading goal-scorer this season. “We used to sit together, I looked at those players and I was like, ‘One day, I want to be on that field as a Troy Athens player.’”
Shauya said he had roster spots available to him on academy teams over the last two years and he could’ve skipped high school soccer, but he wanted to fulfill his dream of playing for Athens.
“I just took a look and said, ‘I love every single one of my teammates, and I love my city,’” Shauya said. “I grew up in the city.”
Because of the ambition of so many players in Troy to play high school soccer, it not only creates unmatched drive and determination for Athens, but also provides unmatched depth each season.
Heugh said his team was able to go 17 or 18 deep during games this season, which allowed the Red Hawks to be the fresher team throughout three overtime victories during the MHSAA Tournament.
Athens was clearly the better team in overtime against Brighton, building a 10-1 advantage in shots, eight of which were on goal.
“When we are able to throw waves of players like that at people, it’s been nice,” Heugh said. “We took a large roster at the beginning of the year, and it was tricky. There were some unhappy kids. Kids that don’t get the minutes that they want to get, and they are pretty good players who probably could get those minutes. But they are willing to do what’s best for the team, and they’re willing to take their minutes when they get them.”
Athens will have the unenviable task of replacing 16 seniors from this year’s squad. But if there’s a high school program that never has issues reloading instead of rebuilding, it’s Athens soccer.
As the team was celebrating with fellow students, parents and fans after the game, it’s a good assumption there were youth players in the community sitting in the stands who are now dreaming of one day being on the same field wearing an Athens jersey.
“I was in eighth grade, and I saw those guys win the championship (in 2019),” said senior Manny Aigbedo, who scored the winning goal in overtime. “I’m like, ‘Man, I want to do something like that one day. I want to be on the field and step up and score for the team and celebrate, and win a championship.’ I was inspired by the guys before me, and I hope that this win today will inspire players to come next through Troy Athens soccer.”
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 Athens players celebrate their overtime victory Saturday night at Grand Ledge. (Middle) Troy Athens JD Hupman (16) and Brighton’s Devlin McGinnis work to gain possession during Saturday’s Final.