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.
Okemos Finds Scoring Touch, Championship Stride in Comeback Win
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
November 6, 2021
NOVI – For three quarters of the Division 1 championship match Saturday at Novi High School, undefeated Okemos’ offense was lifeless against New Baltimore Anchor Bay.
The Tars paid close attention to Jack Guggemos, and the Chiefs had no answers until suddenly, their preparation for a late-game, must-score scenario played out with a dream result.
Down by a goal, Okemos (20-0-4) scored two within two minutes, 17 seconds of each other during the final 10 minutes to claim its third Finals title in a physical 2-1 victory.
Ben Hussey scored off a great assist from Guggemos to tie the game at 1-1, and Aidan Antcliff scored the game-winner on a free kick from 20 yards out with seven minutes, 42 second to play.
“I just tried to get to the end line, and Ben was there,’’ said Guggemos. “He made a great run to the box and tapped it in. You have to deal with what’s thrown at you.
Guggemos had a lot to live up to. His coach and father, Brian, won a Class B title as a senior at Mason in 1989.
“No pressure, right,’’ Jack said, laughing. “It’s a great feeling being able to celebrate this with him.’’
Antcliff knew his shot was in once he booted it.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,’’ said Antcliff, who scored just his second goal of the year. “It was a great shot. I practice that shot in the summertime. I got the opportunity in this game, and I made the most of it. Once I hit it, I knew it was going in.’’
Anchor Bay (22-2-1) made its first appearance in Final, while Okemos won the 2004 Division 1 title and was the B-C champ in 1984.
Okemos was led by all-state senior Guggemos, who set the school record with 45 goals this fall. Anchor Bay featured three past all-state players in Tanner Hodgson (first team), twin brother Carson Hodgson (second team) and goalie Evan Linsley (second team).
The Tars made sure Guggemos was surrounded any time he had the ball, sometimes with as many as three defenders.
“He was part of our game plan,’’ said Tars coach Nate Williams.
“It was a great game between two great soccer teams. We knew even up 1-0 we couldn’t take our foot off the gas.’’
Neither team generated offense in the first half, with most play at mid-field.
With 2:03 left in the first half, junior midfielder Francesco DiLorenzo blasted a shot past the Okemos keeper to give the upstart Tars a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
Anchor Bay came out even more aggressive in the second half with the lead and a chance at the state title.
Guggemos was shackled, but he got free to send a pass near the net with 9:59 left that Hussey redirected into the net to tie the game at 1-1.
“It’s funny because my assistant coaches were talking about it,’’ said Okemos coach Brian Guggemos. “I’ve been doing it long enough to know you need to prepare for moments where you’re going to be down a goal. In the last three weeks we’ve practiced being down a goal. We’ve tried to make sure we were prepared for it. We said look, if we’re down a goal here’s the formation. We went into it right away, and then I told Ben and Owen (Brewer), our two forwards, get in there and crash the goal. That obviously turns the game around a little bit.
"Aidan hits a banger to win the state championship. We also practice those things everyday this time of the year. The guys have listened to the things we needed to do in practice. They paid attention, and that attention to detail has been pretty good for us."
PHOTO (Top) Okemos celebrates its first Finals championship since 2004 on Saturday. (Middle) Anchor Bay's Tanner Hodgson (14) works to control possession with Okemos' Ben Hussey defending. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)