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.)
East Lansing Breaks Free for 4th Title
November 2, 2013
By Tom Kendra
Special to Second Half
KENTWOOD – Ben Swanson-Ralph was just looking to making something happen, to break the ice.
The senior forward did more than that – scoring what proved to be the game-winning goal late in the first half in East Lansing's 2-0 victory over Spring Lake on Saturday at Crestwood Middle School in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Boys Soccer championship game.
"Out of all the goals I've ever scored in soccer, this was the best," said Swanson-Ralph, an all-stater last year as a junior, who finished his senior season with 15 goals and 12 assists.
"I've always dreamed about playing in the state championship game and scoring a goal, but to actually have it happen, is indescribable. I'll remember it my whole life."
Swanson-Ralph picked up a loose ball about 25 yards in front of the goal, slid past a defender and then skidded a low shot into the right side of the net past Spring Lake keeper Joe Czajka. That tally broke a scoreless tie with 10:19 remaining in the first half.
The goal was critical because, up until that point, the game was progressing according to the plan of upset-minded Spring Lake.
While East Lansing was dominating possession and shots and generally keeping the ball in the Spring Lake end, the Trojans had been unable to break through. The defensive-oriented Lakers, like a boxer that allows his opponent to wear himself out, would have loved to go into halftime with a scoreless tie at cold and windy Pat Patterson Field.
Instead, Swanson-Ralph's goal gave his team the cushion and confidence it needed to open up its high-octane offensive attack, according to 38th-year coach Nick Archer.
East Lansing, which finished 25-2, won its fourth MHSAA boys soccer championship. The Trojans also won titles in 1987, 2002 and 2005, to go with two runner-up finishes.
"I am so proud of these kids," said Archer, whose team outscored its seven postseason opponents by a combined score of 22-1, including a 3-0 victory over No. 2 Linden in the Regional Final. "There is so much pressure these days. I just want them to enjoy this moment."
East Lansing, which finished with an 8-3 edge in shots on goal, came out on fire in the second half - with close-range chances by junior DeJuan Jones and sophomore Ian Carroll being stymied by Czajka, the Lakers' last line of defense.
The consistent EL pressure finally broke through again with 33:55 remaining in the game, when Spring Lake was over-aggressive on a corner kick.
The Trojans countered the Lakers' attack as Jones and Carroll broke into the open and then played a give-and-go game up the length of the artificial field in Kentwood. As they approached the goal, Carroll veered into the corner, drawing a defender, and then gave it back to Jones, who punched it into the back of the net. It was the 28th goal of the season for Jones, the Trojans' leading scorer.
"Ian and I hang out a lot and we know what the other one is thinking," said Jones. "We came out in the second half and tried to turn up the pressure and get another goal. It doesn't matter to us who scores; really, we just want to win."
The Lakers had a couple of scoring opportunities the rest of the way, notably from senior striker Nic Ellingboe and sophomore Keegan George. The East Lansing defensive corps of Grant Brogan, Michie Nimsombun, Torey Redmond, Andy Millar and goalkeeper Blair Moore were up to the challenge on each occasion to preserve the lead. Moore had to make just one save.
Spring Lake, which finished 16-7-3, played in its second MHSAA championship game in the past three years under 13th-year head coach Jeremy Thelen. The Lakers fell to Auburn Hills Avondale, 2-1, in the 2011 Final.
This year's Spring Lake team entered the tournament unranked with an underwhelming 10-6-3 record, but gained momentum when it stunned neighboring rival Fruitport, 2-1, in the District Semifinal. Fruitport had defeated Spring Lake twice in the regular season.
"Right now, it's hard for these kids to end with a loss," said Thelen. "But these kids will realize in time what a great season it was, especially since this tournament run was a bit unexpected."
PHOTOS: (Top) East Lansing goalkeeper Blair Moore steps in front of a shot as Spring Lake's Ryan Zietlow attempts to deflect. (Middle) East Lansing's DeJuan Jones (2) heads the ball during Saturday's game. (Click to see more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)