Forest Hills Northern Caps Title Climb
November 2, 2019
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
NOVI – Undefeated Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern ended a brilliant two-year run with an MHSAA Division 2 soccer championship Saturday at Novi High School.
Finally.
A penalty kick by Aidan O’Connor during the first half and a late goal by Ludwig Tilly were enough to secure the Huskies’ first title in soccer with a 2-0 victory over Melvindale.
“This group of seniors really kept an even keel,’’ said FHN coach Daniel Siminski. “That was a tough matchup today. Melvindale played great. They had a great game plan. In the second half, we settled down.’’
Forest Hills Northern came into the championship on a 45-1-2 run over the past two seasons, with the lone defeat coming in last year’s Final in a 1-0 shootout at the hands of Detroit Country Day. This time, the Huskies finished the year with a record of 23-0-1.
“It was tough coming up last year with all these guys and not getting a win,’’ said O’Connor. “We have 14 seniors, and to get the win was great.’’
Many of the holdovers from that team participated in Saturday’s championship with title aspirations on their minds. Northern had finished runner-up last year and 2015.
Melvindale (16-4-2), supported by an excited community, was experiencing its greatest season ever and had outscored its opponents by a combined 21-5 in tournament play.
The Huskies’ smothering defense was all over the Cardinals early as both teams tried to establish a tempo.
The game turned at the 20-minute, 33-second mark when Northern was awarded a penalty kick. O’Connor beat goalie Julian Castillo, who came into this week with 322 saves on the season, on the left side for the game’s first score.
“We’ve been scored on only four times during the playoffs, and all four times was when I wasn’t on the field,’’ said O’Connor. “Once we got that one goal, I felt the game was in the bag. Everybody knows we have a history of losing in the state finals. It’s good to finally break that standard.’’
Melvindale had a chance to tie the game, but Alhusain Yahya‘s would-be goal was nullified by an offsides penalty.
The Cardinals relied on their starting 10 and Castillo in goal, while Northern went with two keepers, Carter Clark in the first half and Jonathan Kliewer in the second.
Castillo, who singlehandedly kept the Cardinals in the game, went down with 18:04 to play in the second half when he collided knees with a Forest Hill Northern player. Castillo was helped off the field and replaced by Abdul Fattah Ahmed.
Castillo returned with 12 minutes to play to the cheers of the Melvindale faithful. Two minutes later Tilly scored the final goal off an assist from Nate Metcalf to make it 2-0. It was Tilly’s 12th goal of the season.
“It made it more comfortable,’’ said Siminski. “I felt like my defense was handling itself fine. That’s what they had done all year. Getting another goal just nailed it. A two-goal lead allowed us to finish strong. We’re talented. We have good players, starting with Aidan O’Connor, who was Gatorade Player of the Year last year. He’s a tremendous talent.
“There’s not weakness across that line. We have height and speed. You have to beat us. We don’t make a lot of mistakes.’’
Melvindale was playing in its first MHSAA Final in this sport, and Cardinals coach Tomas Belba was optimistic about a return trip.
“Good run, but we couldn’t capitalize when we had the chance,’’ he said. “We tried. They’re a great defensive team, and we couldn’t get any chances. They deserve it. All for next year.’’
Click for the full scoring summary.
PHOTOS: (Top) Forest Hills Northern celebrates its first boys soccer Finals championship. (Middle) The Huskies' Ludwig Tilly (5) works to control the ball against Melvindale's defense.
Notre Dame Prep Sets Pace Early, Holds On Late to Finish 1st Title Run
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 2, 2024
GRAND LEDGE – For 10 years, Rob Suffredini has been chasing the ultimate goal of a boys soccer Finals title with Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
After the Fighting Irish achieved that Saturday with a wild 3-2 victory against Elk Rapids in the Division 3 championship match, he was thrilled, but also left wondering what to do next.
“I’m still kind of trying to process all this,” Suffredini said. “We chased it, we caught it, now what? There’s no practice tomorrow, there’s no team to get ready for. It’s a sense of relief, especially how this game ended.”
The Irish jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead and held on down the stretch to claim the first title in program history. They had made one trip to the Finals previously, finishing as Division 3 runners-up in 2000.
“It’s awesome to make history for my school,” said NDP senior forward Will Lanham, who had one goal and one assist. “It just means a lot, especially with all of my peers, the whole school, the athletic director and everybody (here). It’s great to finally win it for the school.”
Notre Dame Prep finished the season 23-2 despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the state. It’s a final record that even surprised Suffredini, but the competitive slate achieved exactly what he’d hoped.
“I really think that schedule, those level opponents and the pace of play that we played, (the Elks) weren’t really ready for it until they got acclimated,” Suffredini said. “Then they started getting into the game, but at that point we were up by three goals, thankfully.”
NDP made its presence felt early in the game, testing Elk Rapids keeper Jacob McManus from distance on a pair of shots during the opening 10 minutes.
The second shot, a rocket from junior midfielder Jack Kilpatrick, was brushed well wide by McManus, but Daniel Lebanion was able to get it under control on the left wing and send a cross toward the front of the goal where Ben Liparoto was able to deflect it into the goal and give his team a 1-0 lead with 31:33 to play in the first half.
Lanham doubled the lead 10 minutes later, taking a pass from Lebanion, splitting a pair of defenders outside the box before finding his footing and going to the far post for his 29th goal of the season.
Late in the first half, Lanham would get his 15th assist of the year, sending a cross into the box that Liparoto rose to meet with a well-placed header with 5:52 remaining
“We went out there, we gave everything we had,” Lanham said. “We have a rule: First 10 minutes, give it everything you’ve got in the game – intensity high – and we got three goals in the first half. We just came out flying.”
The gap in level of play early was also evident to Elk Rapids coach Nate Plum.
“We got to see for the first time the true talent on that other team,” Plum said. “It’s one thing to see it on video, it’s another thing to see – they don’t click off, so you have to give it to the other team.”
The Elks did find their footing late, though, and managed to make the Irish sweat over the final 10 minutes.
“We talked a lot about heart and grit in the locker room, that’s kind of what’s gotten us to this point,” Plum said. “I think you saw the heart come through, at the end. I wish we could take back a couple of those things, and I think our boys would say the same. A lot of emotion goes into this game. I’m proud of the way we finished; we never gave up.”
Elk Rapids got on the board with 10:06 to play, as Tyler Standfest scored on a flick header over Tomassino Offer who had come off his line to handle the free kick. The service came from Noah Bogard, who lofted his kick toward the penalty spot from about 45 yards out.
That was followed by steady Elk Rapids pressure, as it looked to draw level. The Elks nearly pulled to within a goal with six minutes remaining, when a header from Carter Denoyer went just wide.
Tempers flared not long after, with an Elk Rapids player shown a red card for a post-whistle foul on an NDP player who had just received a yellow. A second Elks player then was shown a second yellow, ending the match for him with 4:47 to play.
Even with nine players, the Elks were able to pull within one score with 32 seconds remaining on a goal from Jayden Hresko, which was assisted by Standfest.
“High school sports, man, and sports in general,” Suffredini said. “I give them a lot of credit. It just took a spark. It was unnerving. Those four minutes couldn’t go any slower, in my opinion.”
PHOTOS (Top) Notre Dame Prep’s Benjamin Liparoto (2) heads a shot past the last lines of Elk Rapids’ defense for the first goal of the Division 3 Final on Saturday. (Middle) NDP’s Will Lanham (10) works to gain possession against Elk Rapids’ Jonah DenHerder and Jake Garrow (14). (Below) The Elks’ Tyler Standfest heads a shot that gets past Fighting Irish keeper Tomassino Offer. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)