Canton Caps Fall as Undefeated Champion
November 1, 2014
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
BRIGHTON – Three years ago, Jason Ren watched his older brother Brian help Canton High School win the MHSAA Division 1 boys soccer championship.
Ren wanted the same feeling that his brother experienced. Saturday afternoon at Brighton High School, Ren got the same feeling and more.
He scored the only goal of the game as Canton defeated Rochester Adams 1-0 for the Division I title.
Canton finished the season 24-0-3 and was the only undefeated high school boys soccer team in Michigan this fall.
“I wanted this so bad,” Ren said. “It felt really good to win it again.”
Ren’s big moment came in the 14th minute of the first half. He took a pass from senior midfielder Jack Zemanski and found the back corner of the net from about 22 yards out. It was the third goal of the season for Ren, a junior midfielder.
“Jack had the ball, I overlapped him, and he laid it off to me,” Ren said. “I just hit it as fast as I could in the far corner.”
Although he did so early in the game, the Canton defense made the goal stand up as the Chiefs registered their 16th shutout of the season.
“The first goal is always one of the most important goals, so to get that was good,” Zemanski said. “Kyle Mettlach won the ball on a header, and the throw-in came to me. I just saw Jason called for it, and I laid it out for him, and he hit a perfect shot. There’s nothing a goalie can do to save that.
“We just had to defend the rest of the game, and it worked out well for us.”
Canton, the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Kensington Conference champion, had faced Rochester Adams in the second-to-last game of the regular season. The 1-1 outcome was one of three ties the Chiefs had this season.
“We were confident that we could beat them this time because we felt we deserved to win that game,” Canton senior Carter Schenk said, “but tying them I think humbled us a little bit. It made us think they could play with us and made us work a little harder.”
Rochester Adams, which ended its season 13-5-7, was runner-up in the Oakland Activities Association Red. It was the second MHSAA runner-up finish for Adams, which won the Division 1 title in 1999 and also fell in the 2001 Final.
Both teams had six shots, but Rochester Adams had only one shot on goal, while the Chiefs had two. Canton goalkeeper Andrew Loehnis made only one save in the shutout.
“Our defense all year has been stifling,” second-year Canton coach Mark Zemanski said. “We had a shutout here in the Final and a shutout in the semis.”
It was a cold day, and a brisk wind was blowing directly from one goal to the other. It gave each team an edge when it had the wind at its back. Canton scored with the wind in the first half and then held off Rochester Adams in the second half.
“The wind definitely made it difficult for both teams,” Mark Zemanski said. “We talked to the boys about keeping the ball on the ground and trying to possess. For the most part, we did a pretty good job of that.
“We knew that whoever had the wind was going to have the favor. I think even in the second half my boys did a nice job of moving the ball around and at least keeping it away from them as much as they could.”
It was the second year in a row that Canton entered the postseason undefeated, but this trip had a much different outcome. Last year, Canton lost to Salem in the district, and the two teams had a rematch two weeks ago. Canton won that one 2-1 in overtime, and it proved to be a springboard to the MHSAA title.
“I felt like that was a big thing,” Canton senior defender Sam Belcher said. “Knowing that our season ended last year and we were that good of a team, it was like, ‘We’re not going to let that happen again.’
“I wasn’t going to let my senior year stop after one or two games. We were going all the way. I knew that for a fact.”
Belcher, like the 11 other seniors on the team, only had to look back to three years ago and Canton’s 1-0 victory over Grand Haven for inspiration.
“The whole time leading up to this game, I was thinking back to being at that state championship game and watching them win; the joy on their faces and how they felt, that is what was driving me to win this one,” Belcher said. “I wanted to be just like that. It looked so fun, I wanted to be part of it, too.
“This surpasses what I thought it would feel like, for sure. It’s like the greatest feeling in the world.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Rochester Adams’ Devin Beyer (1) leaps over a challenge by Canton’s Kyle Mettlach. (Below) Canton defender Beaumont Hoffman controls the ball during his team’s shutout in the Division 1 Final. (Click for all team and action photos from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Genesee Christian Ends Run "Perfectly"
November 7, 2015
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
BRIGHTON – A perfect season by the Burton Genesee Christian boys soccer team had a perfect finish.
Four-year senior Jesse Oliver scored in overtime to give the Soldiers the winning margin in a 3-2 victory over Kalamazoo Hackett on Saturday in the MHSAA Division 4 championship game at Brighton High School.
It is the first MHSAA state championship in any sport in school history.
“I would say that definitely was the perfect ending to the season,” Genesee Christian coach Doug Anderson said, moments after having a bucket of cold water dumped on his head.
Anderson didn’t mind the gesture.
“It’s definitely worth it because it means that we won,” he said. “I didn’t want to prepare a losing speech for these guys, and I didn’t have one ready.”
The feeling of scoring the game-winning goal in overtime was overwhelming for Oliver.
“It’s exhilarating. It’s amazing,” he said. “This isn’t something you get to do every day. I really didn’t expect it, but I was in the right spot at the right time.
“It’s surreal. It really is surreal.”
Genesee Christian (28-0) had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before being forced into the two 10-minute overtime sessions. Oliver broke the tie when he scored from right in front of the net on a pass from junior Riley Buchalski.
“The ball was at the end line, and it was juggling around a bit,” Oliver said. “I was crashing toward the middle, and the ball just shot out. I was in the right spot at the right time and put it in with my left foot.”
Oliver, who stands 6 feet, 5 inches, was not the most likely player to score the goal. But as a senior, it was a fitting finish.
“Jesse is my holding man,” Anderson said. “He has a couple of goals from set pieces and stuff, but he’s our stalwart back there; our workhorse, and I’m so happy for him. He has played all four years. He didn’t play a lot as a freshman, but he just kept getting better and better.”
Genesee Christian made it to the title game with a shootout victory over top-ranked Lansing Christian in the Semifinal.
“I’m sick and tired of these overtime games and the guys trying to give me a heart attack, but it does make it more exciting,” Anderson said. “Obviously, I would have liked to have a shutout, but it gets all the guys into it, and in the end we won, and that’s all that matters.”
Junior Cole Russell, who scored the first goal of the game for the Soldiers, praised both Oliver and Buchalski for the game-winning goal.
“Jesse’s composure to keep it down and put it in the back of the net to give us a 3-2 lead in the state championship game was unbelievable,” Russell said. “Riley was a beast in overtime. He was everywhere.”
Russell, a junior, gave Genesee Christian a 1-0 lead when he beat a defender and the goalkeeper, who came out of the net, and found the back post from about 30 yards out. Ryan DeWeese picked up an assist on the goal.
“Ryan DeWeese, it was all him,” Russell said. “The ball he gave me was unbelievable. I could not have asked for a better ball. I had the easy job, to be honest. It was all him.”
Russell also had an assist on Genesee Christian’s second goal. With the game tied 1-1, Russell got the ball to junior Tyler Rose in front of the net, and Rose scored on a header.
Kalamazoo Hackett (21-5-1) was in its fifth MHSAA championship game and first since 1995. The Irish had not lost in a Final and this time battled back twice from one-goal deficits.
Senior Will Knoll tied the game 1-1 in the 51st minute with an assist from Kieran O’Brien, and junior James Amat made it 2-2 in the 73rd minute on a free kick from 25 yards. The Irish scored twice on a team that had allowed just 10 goals in 27 games.
“Those were very quality goals by them, and they did frustrate us a little bit,” Anderson said. “They have a good team, and they played good defense against us.”
It was a highly entertaining game with several chances and close calls by both teams in addition to some fine saves by goalkeepers Zach Noecker (Genesee Christian) and Matthew Carpenter (Kalamazoo Hackett).
In particular, the last five minutes of the first half were thrilling. The highlight came when Carpenter was caught out of the goal, and the Irish players had to defend in his absence. Amat made two saves in a flurry in front of the net.
Russell nearly score in that span as well as his shot went just over the net and just under the crossbar on the goal posts used for football. He is one of many who have played together since the fourth grade.
“We had a feeling that when we were juniors and seniors that we were going to win the state championship, and we did,” Russell said. “Our teamwork is tremendous, and I am so proud of everyone who played on this team, from the person who played the least minutes to the player who played the most.
“We all put in the work for this, and we earned it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Genesee Christian's Riley Buchalski works to keep control of the ball during Saturday's Division 4 Final. (Middle) Kalamazoo Hackett's Jacob Wurtz tries to push the ball past a defender.