GR Catholic Central Clinches 1st Title
November 5, 2016
By Dan Stickradt
Special for Second Half
ROCHESTER HILLS — There’s a ton of pressure being ranked No. 1 in the state, a target for every opponent to try to knock off the perch.
There’s ample pressure just being ranked in the top 20 in one of the state’s four divisions.
Top-ranked Grand Rapids Catholic Central understood that fact entering the Division 3 postseason.
In a tournament where upsets were the norm, the Cougars kept their composure and made a run to the school’s first boys soccer MHSAA championship with a 1-0 victory Saturday over fourth-ranked Flint Powers Catholic in the Division 3 Final at Rochester Stoney Creek High School.
Catholic Central (19-1-4) defeated four ranked teams in its final four games of the postseason and outscored its six postseason opponents by a 21-4 margin.
“It was a challenge with so many good teams out there. But there were some life lessons about being No. 1 and playing like it. A lot of life lessons just about getting here,” smiled Catholic Central coach Brian Hughes. “I told them before the game that I didn’t really care if we won today or lost. They already won based on the (journey) to get here and the fact that we had to beat some really good teams to play in the state finals. They did it together. No one individual accomplished this.”
It marked the first-ever Finals appearance for Catholic Central, which took over the top spot in the Oct. 9 coaches association rankings and firmly held its position. The Cougars, who had never won a Regional before this season, solidified their lofty ranking on the season’s final day.
On the counterattack, Catholic Central broke the stalemate with 25:29 in the first half with its first shot attempt of the contest.
Junior forward Langston Cooper broke free down the right side before slipping a cross into the penalty box. Sophomore forward Jim O’Neal was in open space to one-time a shot from six yards out past Powers goalkeeper Brendan Tilden.
“I was in the right position. But to be honest it was all Langston. He did all the work down the side to get the cross over to the middle,” said O’Neal, who recorded just his sixth goal of the season. “It was unusual to score on our first shot, but we’ll take it any way we can get it.”
Defensively, Catholic Central stifled several of Powers Catholic’s attempts. Anchored by senior center back Josh Steffes, a Division I college prospect, and junior goalkeeper Noah Hughes, GRCC left the Chargers (17-4-3) completely frustrated and unsatisfied.
“We’ve had some good talent in the past — all the talent in the world. We just could never get it done before,” said Steffes. “We knew since the beginning of the season that this was possible.”
Catholic Central shut down the Powers Catholic foursome of Chase Knoblock, Bryan Lendzion, Steven Tuttle and Mason Smith, who came in with a combined 52 goals on the season. Powers had outscored its six previous postseason opponents by a commanding 27-2 margin with four shutouts in the playoffs and 11 total clean sheets on the season.
“We had a great run, but to be honest I don’t care if we were ranked fourth or 104th. I don’t think the guys are satisfied for just being here,” said Powers Catholic coach Tony Rowe. “We have a ton of juniors coming back, and I know they’ll remember what it feels like to lose this game.”
Powers Catholic came out and controlled play for most of the first half, with a shot by Knoblock only 20 seconds into the game which Hughes leapt high to snare. The Chargers just could not penetrate Catholic Central’s defense, which yielded just 20 goals over 24 games.
“I am proud of this group for what they accomplished the past few years,” continued Rowe. “The seniors set the tone. We’ve won league championships, Districts and Regionals over the past (four years). They did a good job of making it here. We had some chances. If we would have put one in early in the game, things might have been different. (Catholic Central) is a very good defensive team. (Their) tall kid, number 11 (Josh Steffes) had them very organized, and they had him shadowing our best offensive player the whole game.”
Hughes picked up six saves for his team’s 11th clean sheet in 24 games.
Tilden finished with six saves for Powers Catholic, including two where he had to punch aside consecutive shots in the second half by GRCC’s Fernando Garcia.
Both teams traded off 10 shots in the contest, with Catholic Central holding a 7-6 edge with shots directly on frame. There were no corner kicks in the game, although both teams had several long throw-ins into the penalty box.
All attempts were thwarted except O’Neal’s games-winning tally.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Fernando Garcia (7) works for possession against Flint Powers Catholic’s Dominic Ruth. (Middle) GRCC’s Langston Cooper (4) gets position while Trevor Purman defends.
DCC Wins Matchup of 1st-Time Finalists
November 4, 2017
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
ROCHESTER HILLS – Ryan Pierson entered the Division 1 Boys Soccer Final having scored 31 goals already on the season for Detroit Catholic Central.
However, number 32 turned out to not only be more meaningful than the other 31 combined, but the most important goal of the entire season.
With 6:49 remaining, Pierson stepped up to the line and knocked in a penalty kick for what turned out to be the only goal of the game in a 1-0 Catholic Central win over Walled Lake Central in a title-game matchup that featured two programs playing in the championship game for the first time.
For all the MHSAA championships in other sports the decorated Catholic Central athletic program has accumulated, it now has a soccer title to add to the trophy case.
“It’s 39 years in the making,” Catholic Central head coach Gene Pulice said. “Our first one is definitely historic and impactful. To be the first coach to lead a team to it, it’s impactful for sure.”
Pierson created the scoring chance himself after being fouled in the box by a Walled Lake Central defender.
He got a loose ball on the edge of the right side of the penalty area and took on two defenders as he dribbled toward the goal.
Pierson put the ball through the legs of one defender to get past him and then was taken down by the other, and the official didn’t hesitate to call the foul.
Once he stepped to the ball, Pierson had some familiarity with Walled Lake Central goalie Brian Ostepanko, who made three saves during a shootout in a Regional Semifinal win over Rochester.
“I have played with him a couple of times,” Pierson said. “I played with him this past season on a showcase team. He is a solid keeper and had a great season.
“I was pretty confident. I have a system that works, and I think it worked out. I was pretty confident I was going to the (right) side, and he guessed the other way.”
An understandably somber Walled Lake Central head coach Joel Sharpe said he had no issue with the foul call.
“I’m not going to argue that,” Sharpe said. “It looked like it. When you dive in and you put someone in the box the caliber of a player Pierson is, bad things are going to happen.”
Before Pierson’s goal, the game was a defensive struggle with few quality scoring chances; it seemed destined for a shootout.
With about 30 minutes remaining, Catholic Central (21-2-4) did start to tilt the field in its favor and carried the play, collecting eight shots and five corner kicks during the second half alone.
“We had a couple of guys that we changed around a little bit, but we executed the game plan better,” Pulice said. “We had the same formation, but we executed our game plan better. I thought myself it was a matter of time before Ryan got pulled down in the box. They were on him all game. It’s one of those things where you are trying to stick to your game plan and know it will work.”
Not helping the cause for Walled Lake Central (22-2-2) was a game-ending knee injury to senior defender and captain Karl Tavadia with 33 minutes to play.
Tavadia was the main player marking Pierson up to that point, and Sharpe said he had to move a forward back to help defend Pierson.
Walled Lake Central will bemoan not only its luck with Tavadia getting hurt, but also a glorious scoring chance that came up empty in the final minute of the first half.
With the half winding down, a ball was served into the Catholic Central box and deflected to the foot of a Walled Lake Central player who was right in front of the goal line with an open net in front of him.
But the volley went straight up in the air, hit the crossbar and landed on the goal line to allow Catholic Central enough time to recover defensively.
“Their hearts are breaking, and no matter how good of a season this is and how great of an accomplishment it was to get to the Finals, it’s never easy to console these guys for everything they put into it,” Sharpe said.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Catholic Central’s Ryan Pierson celebrates connecting on a penalty kick that ended up as the Division 1 Final’s only goal. (Middle) The Shamrocks were able to stop this scoring attempt by Walled Lake Central’s Ray Daniels (8).