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.”

NDP’s Will Lanham (10) works to gain possession against Elk Rapids’ Jonah DenHerder and Jake Garrow (14). 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

The Elks’ Tyler Standfest heads a shot that gets past Fighting Irish keeper Tomassino Offer.“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.”

Click for the full box score.

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.)

Wagner Transforming Kalkaska Into Lake Michigan Conference Challenger

By Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com

October 6, 2023

Figuratively speaking, there is a new boys soccer sheriff in the Lake Michigan Conference. And Kalkaska is making big changes in the league’s competitiveness and results.

Northern Lower PeninsulaThe Blazers are 11-5-4 overall and have shown to be a formidable challenger for perennial champion Elk Rapids.

They are coached by a sheriff, literally — actually the undersheriff of Kalkaska County. David Wagner II took over the Blazers program four years ago, inheriting a team that went winless the year before.

This week they almost stopped Elk Rapids from clinching its 17th title in the league’s 21 years of existence. The Blazers ended up falling only 1-0 to the Elks after suffering a 2-1 loss earlier in the season, giving up two penalty kick goals.

The challenge by the new sheriff is welcomed by the league, especially Nate Plum, now in is 16th season at the helm of Elk Rapids. When Plum first took over the Elks, they usually played conference games with their junior varsity squad and the varsity team took on as many strong nonconference teams as they could schedule.

The Blazers had been an easy win for Lake Michigan Conference teams, often the victim of the MHSAA goal-differential rule.

All that has changed with Kalkaska producing high scorers like Cooper Swikoski last year and Wagner taking over, Plum noted.

“You can see kids that have been in that program the last four years and they get on the ball and they can move it, putting you in difficult spots,” Plum said. “They have been dangerous this year.

“They have been consistently harder to play,” he continued. “Dave sees the game the right way at the high school level as another avenue besides school to teach boys lessons — he’s a class act.”

Kalkaska earned two wins in Wagner’s first season, which was also his son Tripp’s first in high school soccer. The Blazers earned four wins the next year and 10 last fall.

Coach Wagner points more to life’s lessons than wins though and keeps soccer in perspective as just a game as he faces the challenges in his professional life.

Wagner came to Northern Michigan in 2002 as a deputy in Kalkaska County. He worked as a corrections officer, road patrol deputy, Traverse Narcotics Team officer, member of the emergency response team, road patrol sergeant and dispatch sergeant before being named undersheriff in 2018.

“To be honest with you, I don’t even look at our record – I don’t get hung up on it,” Wagner said. “I think boys soccer is very important, but from my line of work it’s a boys soccer game.

“I put in it in perspective,” he continued. “I am just trying to make these kids hopefully a little better adults.”

The Blazers have been led by strong defense, in particular in the middle of the field and at goal.  

Adam Williams in normally the first line of defense with Ryan Perry playing more back. And then stellar goalkeeper Kayden Dueweke-Gonzales wraps things up. He has four shutouts this season.

“The defenders can’t pile up stats,” Wagner pointed out. “They are our rock.”

The three seniors leading the defense are among the six Blazers seniors who started playing soccer around the age of 5 under Wagner, who was their youth coach in Kalkaska for nine years before taking over the high school program. The rest of the Blazers seniors started playing for Wagner at 10 years of age.

Wagner had hopes the boys would have a different coach in high school but found himself needing to step into the vacancy. His seniors all played their last game at home Thursday on Senior Night, earning a 2-2 tie with Grayling.

Senior Night provided Wagner a nice chance to go down memory road.

“I had to dig up some old pictures for Senior Night because they wanted to do the young pictures and the current pictures,” he said.

Jose Saez is leading the team scoring with 11 goals and two assists. Tripp Wagner is next with six goals and six assists. Cade Ponstien has eight goals and two assists.

“Kalkaska has guys on the field that make a difference,” Plum said. “They definitely started to compete at higher level last year and an even higher level this year making the game extra difficult, and it made the conference even better — we can only hope that continues.”

Wagner and his players meet with an official for the coin flip before playing Elk Rapids. Wagner, though, knows the Blazers will have to get stronger to wrestle the league crown away from the previous champions. The list includes Charlevoix and Harbors Springs along with Elks’ title accomplishments.

“We’re still not at the level of the Elks or the Traverse City teams,” Wagner acknowledged. “At least we’re in the running for competitiveness.”

Wagner grew up playing soccer in the Kalamazoo area and became a soccer referee while he was in college at Ferris State. He is viewed by many referees and former coaches as the best referee Northern Michigan has ever seen.

He started high school refereeing in Northern Michigan 20 years ago and achieved national referee certification in the United States Soccer Referee Association.

Wagner has noticed a lot more disparity among high school soccer teams in the north than the south of Michigan. For example, he had never refereed a game ending in a mercy before moving north.

He’s also noticed many of the same referees on the pitch today he worked with two decades ago.

“It’s aging,” he said with a laugh.  “But it is the coaches and parents’ fault. (Potential referees) stop and ask themselves, ‘Why would I want to go out there?’

“I have utmost respect for all the officials – even the ones I don’t agree with,” he continued. “At the end of the day, it is always about the kids.”

Jerry Grieve, a retired forester and veteran soccer referee, is one of many referees who recall working with Wagner as an official.  He is also the father of three former Kalkaska athletes and graduates — Abigail, 2005, Paul, 2007, and Alex, 2009. 

Grieve is extremely proud of Wagner’s affiliation and success with the Blazers.

“I first met Undersheriff Dave Wagner more than 20 years ago at a Cadillac/TC Central game, in which he was the center. “I have always thought he was the best soccer referee I have ever officiated with. 

“And in the past few years he has been the coach of the Kalkaska high school boys team and they are the highest-quality team I have yet to see from that school,” Grieve continued.  “But more importantly, as coach he has always treated referees with dignity and poise — which is a great teaching moment for his players.”

Kalkaska will now try to continue its growing success in the playoffs.

“It’s just one day at a time,” Wagner said of the Blazers’ motto. “We are not a soccer super powerhouse up here yet.

“I do like talking about giving credit to the team – they deserve it.”

The Blazers will travel to Cheboygan for the first round of the postseason. They will have to win that game and knock off the winner of Grayling/Boyne City in the second round to earn a possible rematch with Elk Rapids.  The Elk have a first-round bye as the top seed and then play the winner of Kingsford and Iron Mountain.

Tom SpencerTom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. 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) Kalkaska coach David Wagner II stands among his many seniors last week. (Middle) Wagner and his players meet with an official for the coin flip before playing Elk Rapids. (Photos by Tom Spencer.)