Finals Preview: The Golden Goal
November 2, 2012
There's a definite Grand Rapids feel to this weekend's MHSAA Boys Soccer Finals.
The higher-ranked teams in all four championship games hail from that city and its near neighbors, and have combined for six MHSAA championships. Their opponents have combined for two titles, and two of the four will be playing in their first Finals on Saturday.
All four games can be watched live at MHSAA.tv. See the schedule below:
- Division 1: East Kentwood vs. Grand Blanc, 3 p.m. at Troy Athens
- Division 2: Hudsonville Unity Christian vs. Petoskey, 3 p.m. at East Kentwood Crestwood Middle School
- Division 3: Grand Rapids South Christian vs. Williamston, noon at East Kentwood Crestwood
- Division 4: Grand Rapids Covenant Christian vs. Hamtramck Frontier International, noon at Troy Athens
Read on for background on all eight teams, including their most impressive wins this fall and some of the players who could make the biggest impacts on the final day of the season. (Statistics below do not include those from Wednesday's Semifinals.)
DIVISION 1
EAST KENTWOOD
Record/rank: 21-1-4, No. 1
Coach: John Conlon, 13th season (253-38-22)
League finish: First in O-K Red.
MHSAA championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2010).
Best wins: 3-1 and 2-1 (District Semifinal) over No. 2 Rockford, 2-1 over No. 5 Brighton (Regional Final), 4-0 over Division 2 No. 2 Ada Forest Hills Eastern
Players to watch: Charlie Constantino, sr. M (9 goals, 11 assists); Tyler Moorman, sr. D (10 G/4 A); Josh Hagene, sr. M (8 G/12 A), T.J. Ifaturoti, sr. F (16 G/7 A).
The scoop: East Kentwood has won at least 20 games for the seventh time over the last eight seasons and has been the dominant program in Division 1 of late with MHSAA championships three of the last five seasons. Constantino is considered one of the top players in Michigan high school soccer, and he’s one of 11 seniors on the team. East Kentwood’s only loss was 4-3 to No. 8 Portage Northern.
GRAND BLANC
Record/rank: 16-6-2, unranked
Coach: Greg Kehler, 14th season (217-62-29)
League finish: Second in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West
MHSAA championship history: Class A runner-up 1987
Best wins: 5-3 over No. 4 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (Regional Semifinal), 4-3 over Lake Orion (District Final).
Players to watch: Chris Sullivant, sr. M (4 G/8 A); Dominic Mastromatteo, sr. F (11 G/6 A), Nick Berklich, jr. F (16 G/2 A).
The scoop: Kehler has 429 wins total between Grand Blanc’s boys and girls teams and took the latter to the 2004 Finals. This run has been a little more unexpected, especially after graduating Mr. Soccer Zach Carroll this spring. But the Bobcats are making good on lessons learned during nine games decided by a goal during the regular season, and have won three one-goal games plus another by two in overtime during the tournament. Sullivant is a four-year standout, and Mastromatteo in particular has been finding the net often during the postseason surge.
DIVISION 2
HUDSONVILLE UNITY CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 24-2, No. 3
Coach: Randy Heethuis, 19th season (353-62-29)
League finish: Tied for first in O-K Green
MHSAA championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 2009), four runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 3-0 over No. 2 Ada Forest Hills Eastern (Regional Semifinal), 2-1 over No. 1 Spring Lake (Regional Final), 2-0 over No. 7 Holland, 2-0 over Division 3 No. 2 Grand Rapids South Christian, 4-0 over Division 4 No. 10 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian.
Players to watch: Jared Timmer, soph. M (6 G/15 A); Jake Love, sr. F (12 G/13 A); Stephan Hooker, sr. M (19 G/8 A); Joe Honderd, jr. F (13 G/6 A); Nick Woldyk, sr. GK (0.76 GAA, 9 SHO).
The scoop: The Crusaders are the reigning runners-up from Division 3 and certainly earned their way here by beating the only teams ranked ahead of them in the most loaded Regional in any division. Unity Christian has shut out four of six opponents during the tournament and 14 total this season. The losses came on opening night to Division 1 No. 8 Portage Northern and to Holland in their second game against each other this fall.
PETOSKEY
Record/rank: 17-8-2, unranked
Coach: Zach Jonker, third season (35-26-9)
League finish: Third in Big North Conference
MHSAA championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 2008), two runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 1-0 (OT) over No. 4 East Lansing (Regional Final), 3-1 over No. 9 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood (Semifinal), 2-0 and 2-0 over Division 3 No. 7 Elk Rapids.
Players to watch: Louis Lamberti, sr. F (12 G/5A), A.J. Hoffman, sr. F (10 G/6 A), Evan Altman, sr. M (8 G/8 A), Drew Smith, sr. GK (0.92 GAA, 13 SHO).
The scoop: The Northmen loaded their schedule with tough competition early, and it’s paid off at the end. Their losses are nearly as impressive as their wins: to Division 1 honorable mention Warren DeLaSalle and No. 4 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek and to Division 2 No. 8 Bloomfield Hills Lahser during a 1-5-1 start. Petoskey is 16-3-1 over its last 20. The team also finished MHSAA runner-up in 2009 before making District exits the last two seasons.
DIVISION 3
GRAND RAPIDS SOUTH CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 20-2-3, No. 2
Coach: Jason Boersma, second season (36-7-5)
League finish: First in O-K Gold
MHSAA championship history: MHSAA champion 2010, runner-up 2007.
Best wins: 2-0 over No. 3 Whitehall, 1-0 over No. 9 Grosse Ile (Semifinal).
Players to watch: Erik VerHoef, sr. GK (0.43 GAA); Kyle Doornbos, sr. D/M (6 G/12 A); Marlon Bykerk, jr M/F (14 G/13 A); Cody Kok, jr. M (13 G/6 A).
The scoop: The 17 shutouts by VerHoef and Zach Medendorp rank among the most in MHSAA history for one season, and total the team has given up only 10 goals. Seven Sailors have scored at least six goals, with senior Alex Klunder adding his ninth of the season in Wednesday’s Semifinal to push the team into the championship game. South Christian’s only losses came to Division 2 No. 2 Forest Hills Eastern and No. 3 Unity Christian.
WILLIAMSTON
Record/rank: 19-7-1, honorable mention
Coach: Brent Sorg, eighth season (106-69-12)
League finish: Second in Capital Area Activities Conference White
MHSAA championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 3-1 and 2-1 (SO, Semifinal) over No. 7 Elk Rapids, 2-0 and 3-2 (Regional Semifinal) over No. 8 Freeland, 2-0 over No. 10 Frankenmuth (Regional Final), 2-1 over Division 4 No. 1 Lansing Christian, 6-2 over Division 4 No. 9 Ann Arbor Greenhills.
Players to watch: Hunter Lyle, jr. M (16 G/6 A); Zach Sundin, sr. F (19 G/6 A), Ross Needler, sr. M (17 G/16 A), Phil Erickson, sr. M (10 G/3 A).
The scoop: Williamston has won nine of its last 10 after also stacking the schedule early. The Hornets fell early to ranked Division 2 teams Holland, East Lansing and Haslett, plus Division 3 No. 5 Detroit Country Day and tied Division 1 honorable mention Birmingham Brother Rice during the first half of the season. But Williamston has been building toward this type of run with five straight seasons of either increasing or equaling the previous year’s win totals. This season’s District title was its second straight and fourth under Sorg.
DIVISION 4
GRAND RAPIDS COVENANT CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 19-4-1, No. 8
Coach: Mike Noorman, ninth season (106-64-11)
League finish: First in River Valley Conference
MHSAA championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 2-1 over No. 10 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian, 2-1 over No. 2 Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central (Regional Semifinal), 2-0 over honorable mention Leland (Semifinal).
Players to watch: Jordan Van Oostenbrugge, sr. M/F (16 G/11 A); Corbin Prince, jr. F (16 G/12 A); Austin Brower, jr. GK (1.23 GAA/11 shutouts).
The scoop: Combined, Van Oostenbrugge and Prince have scored more than half of their team’s goals and more than the Chargers have given up this season. The District title was Covenant Christian’s third in five seasons and the team has increased its win total in each of the last four. The Chargers have 11 seniors, but also start two talented sophomores.
HAMTRAMCK FRONTIER INTERNATIONAL
Record/rank: 17-2, unranked
Coach: Nasser Algahim, third season (51-4)
League finish: Does not play in a conference.
MHSAA championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 4-2 over No. 4 Birmingham Roeper (District Semifinal), 2-0 over No. 9 Ann Arbor Greenhills (Regional Semifinal), 1-0 over No. 1 Lansing Christian (Regional Final), 2-0 over No. 5 Genesee Christian (Semifinal).
Players to watch: Baleegh Algahim, sr. F, (23 G/10 A); Habeb Ghaleb, soph. M, (21 G/8 A), Mujeeb Nahshal, jr. M, (5 G/15 A), Mohammed Alfahad, sr. M (5 G/11 A); Ammar Abdullah, soph. GK (0.78 GAA)
The scoop: Frontier International is in just its third season as a program, but made the Division 4 Semifinals in 2010 and returned to Regionals last fall. Playing as an independent, the Knights faced a schedule loaded with bigger schools from all over the Detroit area, with losses only to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and Berkley. Although unranked, no team aside from Unity Christian in Division 2 has knocked out as impressive a group of ranked opponents during the tournament this fall.
PHOTO: Hudsonville Unity Christian senior Logan Walters (21), here in last season's Division 3 Final against Detroit Country Day, will try to help the Crusaders to their second MHSAA title in three years.
Little Leland Boasts Big Numbers, Success
By
Dennis Chase
Special for MHSAA.com
October 6, 2015
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
LELAND – Small school, big aspirations.
Welcome to Leland, where the volleyball and soccer programs are once again celebrating success.
Both teams are ranked No. 3 in state coaches polls in their respective sports and divisions.
And both are hoping to make deep runs in the MHSAA tournament.
That's been the norm in volleyball. The Comets – Class D champs in 1978 and 1980 (Lower Peninsula), 2002 and 2006 – reached the Class D Final last November before dropping a four-setter to perennial power Battle Creek St. Philip.
The soccer program is making noise, too, with three consecutive district titles, including an MHSAA Semifinal appearance in 2012.
"Obviously, the volleyball program has tradition," soccer coach Joe Burda said. "We've been around lately. We're trying to start our own (tradition)."
His Comets are 15-2, heading into Friday night's showdown at Muskegon Western Michigan Christian, the school that beat Leland in the regional final a year ago.
The volleyball team is 20-5-4. One of the losses was to St. Philip in a season-opening tournament. Another was to Class A Caledonia in the final of the Morley-Stanwood Invitational.
Some 60 students – almost half of Leland's 122 total – play soccer or volleyball.
"There's definitely momentum behind both programs," athletic director Ryan Knudsen said. "The kids are having fun, learning a lot about their sport, learning life lessons, and being successful, and that really draws kids to want to participate. It carries on from year to year and you can see it all the way down to our middle school and elementary programs. There's an excitement."
Leland is the smallest school in the Northwest Conference. Size, though, does not deter the spirit, and the Comets thrive on the challenge.
"Our coaches do an outstanding job," Knudsen said. "But we also have tremendous support from our school board, administration and community. They all understand that being the smallest school in the conference, and the fact we schedule as many challenging non-conference games as possible in all our sports, helps us prepare our student-athletes and teams to be able to have longstanding success. We're excited about the present and we're excited about the future."
That sentiment is readily apparent in volleyball. Coach Laurie Glass, who has won MHSAA titles as a player and coach at Leland, has an interesting blend in her starting lineup, ranging from two returning all-state seniors to two promising freshmen.
The team has grown considerably since that early-season loss to St. Philip.
"We have a very strong team," senior Maddie Trumbull, the team's floor captain, said. "We started off a little slow, but our freshmen are really stepping up and are a big part of our team. They have made such a difference. We are so much better than we were four weeks ago."
Glass said playing St. Philip so early in the season was an advantage.
"You have to bring your best in order to compete with St. Phil," she said. "It sets the tone for what you've got to work on in order to get back there (Battle Creek is host site of the MHSAA Finals)."
Trumbull, an outside hitter, and Eva Grobbel, a middle hitter, are the returning all-state players. They lead the team in kills. Trumbull also tops the charts in hitting efficiency and Grobbel in blocks, according to Glass.
"Maddie's even better now than she was last year (when she led the team with 572 kills), and she's really developed her leadership skills," Glass said. "Eva played club in the spring, and she's varied her offense."
Glass said opponents often focus their gameplans on trying to stop Trumbull at the net – and that's a mistake.
"We have too many other weapons and we have the ability to move (Trumbull) around so they just can't camp out on her on the outside," Glass said.
Other key contributors are senior ViAnna Hennig, who battled shin splints last season, but is now physically tougher and stronger; freshman outside hitter Allie Martin; freshman setter Ella Siddall, junior libero Julie Bardenhagen; and junior Rachel Bechtel, a strong server, and sophomore Rowan Wilson, who split time. Martin leads the team in aces, Siddall in assists. Martin and Siddall were team managers last season.
Siddall has replaced graduated Jessica Fleis as the setter.
"That's the toughest position to replace," Glass said. "We run a pretty complicated offense, so to be able to call audibles on the fly, that's a lot for a freshman. That speaks to her talent."
Bardenhagen, who's replaced another spring graduate in Whitney Schaub, has helped solidify the defense and passing game at libero.
"In our first tournament we didn't have a libero," Glass said. "We didn't have anyone to replace Whitney. We really struggled passing and didn't have a good anchor on the back row."
Now it seems to be clicking.
"It's been going so much better because I didn't know what to expect," Grobbel admitted. "We lost our libero, our setter, and they were a huge part of our team. But we all want to win a state championship. We've worked so hard together to try to make that happen."
Trumbull agreed.
"Right after the state finals (last November) we were already looking forward to this season, making plans for what we can do better," she said. "We're always thinking about how we can get better, how we can win a state championship."
"I think this team wants to go deep again," Glass added. "They have certainly set their sights on that from the beginning. If it has anything to do with work ethic and team chemistry, they have all the pieces they need to make a run."
Leland's reached at least the quarterfinals in five of the last six years. Glass attributes the program's success to player development at the middle school level, where a higher priority is placed on learning the game and proper techniques as opposed to winning.
"It's about doing the right things for the right reasons at the right time," Glass said.
Burda, meanwhile, is in his sixth season leading the soccer program. And he has it rolling with 39 players out, which allows for a junior varsity team.
The Comets are tough up front with senior Mike Osorio and junior Noah Fetterolf. Clarke Morgan, a four-year varsity veteran, anchors the defense. Rick Roman is an experienced keeper.
"They've all been different," Burda said of his teams. "I think I see more potential in this team, though. I think we're more balanced offensively and defensively. We've always been strong down the middle, but we're strong at all of our other positions, too."
Osorio and Fetterolf are the scoring leaders who keep opposing defenses honest. They are particularly dangerous when Leland counter attacks. Morgan, meanwhile, commands respect from his sweeper position.
"He chases down everybody and everything," Burda said.
Leland's only two losses came on the same day – setbacks to Harbor Springs and Elk Rapids in a tournament at Elk Rapids. The Comets were shorthanded that day, minus, among others, Fetterolf.
The Comets went through September without a loss, including a 4-1 victory over the Elks.
"We're just preparing every day for the next game because that's the only one that matters," Morgan said. "If we focus on one game at a time, focus on each opportunity, we can really do something in the post-season."
Morgan said the Comets are "super competitive" and that drives them in their quest to be the best.
"We're always trying to push each other to reach our full potential," the 17-year-old said.
Morgan, who also plays club soccer for the Midwest United FC travel team out of Grand Rapids, said the Comets have all "the key components," including chemistry.
"It's really cool," he said. "Our school is so small you see everyone in class, you see everyone around school and then you go to soccer practice and it's the same people. We have a good bond, a good connection."
Burda is hoping to parlay that into something special.
"We want to make another run," he said. "We want to get back to the Final Four."
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Leland soccer senior Clarke Morgan, left, and volleyball senior Maddie Trumbull are among standouts for the school's standout teams this fall. (Middle) Senior Eva Grobbel unloads a serve during a match this week. (Below) Senior Mike Osorio lines up a kick during a game this season. (Soccer photos courtesy of Katia Skarupinski; volleyball photos by Gwen Martin.)