Late Strikes Net Skyline 2nd Finals Win
November 3, 2018
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
NOVI – On a sunny, albeit chilly, fall Saturday afternoon, lightning still managed to strike at Novi High School during the Division 1 boys soccer championship game.
But instead of from the sky above, it came on the field from Ann Arbor Skyline.
In a game seemingly destined for overtime and a shootout, Skyline unexpectedly struck quickly, scoring two goals in a span of 58 seconds late in the second half to earn a 2-0 win over East Kentwood.
It was the second Division 1 title since 2015 for Skyline, and the first time in six MHSAA Finals appearances since 2007 that East Kentwood didn’t take home the championship trophy.
The game was scoreless until there was 9:42 left, when Skyline junior Jamie Balms sent in a service to the top portion of the box.
Sophomore Gabe Kellman flicked it with his foot deeper into the box to junior Chris Emerson, who with his back to the goal did a mini bicycle kick and flicked a shot with his right leg into the goal to make it 1-0 Skyline.
“I turned my back and hit it,” Emerson said. “It was crazy. I couldn’t even explain it.”
It didn’t take long for the Eagles to add an insurance goal.
Just 58 seconds later, junior Oskar Shiomi-Jensen sent a cross into the box, and junior Bryce Schaner headed it into the goal to make it 2-0 Skyline.
“We knew it was going to be a set piece or some sort of breakdown,” Skyline head coach Chris Morgan said. “We just told them before the game started and throughout the game. We said to ‘trust, trust, trust.’ And we got it. That was all it was.”
It was a stunning offensive outburst after a game that mostly featured stout defensive play and few quality scoring chances.
That was expected going in, since Skyline had allowed just 11 goals on the season, while East Kentwood entered with five consecutive shutouts.
Skyline remained firm defensively despite dealing with a rash of injuries throughout the year that cost the Eagles six starters.
But ultimately, Skyline’s depth on the backline showed through.
“They did an outstanding job,” Morgan said. “We didn’t make any subs in the back throughout the whole tournament. Hats off to those boys.”
For East Kentwood, it was definitely a strange feeling taking home the runner-up trophy.
The Falcons had won all five of their championship matches since 2007, the last a shootout win over Troy Athens in the 2016 Final.
“We fell asleep on a set piece, and obviously Skyline is very good on set pieces, so you have to give them credit,” East Kentwood head coach John Conlon said. “Soccer is a game of inches, and they won the inches when it mattered.”
Conlon also praised the Skyline defense, which he knew would be a challenge before the game – and it played out that way.
“It’s hard to generate much against their team,” Conlon said. “It was a heavyweight bout, and two guys are trying to land punches. They finally landed a punch, and we couldn’t get one off.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Skyline’s Jamie Palms leads his team across the field in celebration of their Division 1 championship win. (Middle) Skyline’s Gabe Kellman (16) and East Kentwood’s Samuel Olson work to gain possession Saturday.
Troy Athens Comes Back Again, This Time to Claim Program's 6th Finals Win
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 4, 2023
GRAND LEDGE — Usually if a soccer teams falls behind late in a state championship game, there’s a big “uh-oh” and sense of dejection.
But falling behind late against Brighton in the 2023 MHSAA Division 1 Final put Troy Athens in a comfort zone.
“We were behind in the District Final, we were behind in the Regional Semifinal, we were behind in the Regional Final, we took the lead in the Semifinal but then fell behind, and we were behind again tonight,” Athens head coach Todd Heugh said. “Certainly, there’s a lot of resolve and resiliency in our group.”
As it turned out, it was championship resolve and resiliency for Athens.
Thanks to a goal late in regulation that tied the game and one more 2:59 into overtime, Athens is once again a Finals champion in boys soccer following a 2-1 win over Brighton.
The title was the sixth in program history for Athens (20-3-2).
The winning goal with 7:01 left in the first portion of overtime came from senior Manny Aigbedo, who put home a loose ball in the Brighton box after a mad scramble following an Athens corner kick.
“I just kneed it,” Aigbedo said. “I got anything I could on it. Just a little bit and went in. I didn’t even know I scored at that moment because there was so many people trying to get it.”
The game was scoreless until 9:02 remained in regulation, when Brighton took a 1-0 lead on a goal from senior Colin Robertson.
The goal came after a flurry of shots on Athens goalkeeper Adam Ethridge, who initially stopped Brighton leading scorer Devlin McGinnis on a point-blank shot in the box. A rebound caromed to Brighton junior Owen Buckley, but he was stopped by Ethridge.
But with Ethridge out of the net, another rebound came to the left side of the box to Robertson, who fired a shot into essentially an empty net just past multiple Athens defenders who tried to scramble back to the goal line.
From there, Athens pressured to get the equalizer, and finally did.
With 1:56 remaining in the second half, senior Brody Fahnestock stepped into a fast-paced shot from roughly 30 yards out that went past Brighton’s keeper and into the goal to tie the game at 1-1.
The tying goal seemed to deflate Brighton (19-4-2), which was less than two minutes from winning a first Finals championship in school history.
Athens dominated the overtime period, outshooting Brighton 10-1 overall and 8-0 on goal.
“When they got that tying goal, it kind of took the wind out of our sails there at the end,” Brighton head coach Mark Howell said. “We knew overtime was going to be an uphill battle trying to climb back in it momentum-wise. We knew they had a lot of experience returning on the big stage. It just didn’t fall the way we wanted it to.”
Athens got off to a slow start this season, but got rolling in September and never looked back, showing once again there’s no substitute for experience as the team had 16 seniors.
“We don’t always play the prettiest brand,” Heugh said. “But we’re usually organized, and we usually are going to fight to the end.”
Click for the box score.
PHOTOS (Top) Troy Athens celebrates its overtime win in Saturday's Division 1 Final at Grand Ledge. (Middle) The Red Hawks' Daniel Kadiu (23) races upfield with a Brighton defender chasing.