Preview: Perfect Time to Peak
November 4, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Four of eight finalists at Saturday's MHSAA Boys Soccer Finals are playing to take home the champion's trophy for the first time in their programs' histories.
And considering that none of seven teams that play in leagues won them this fall, claiming the highest title will be even more special.
Burton Genesee Christian is the reigning Division 4 champion and does not play in a league. The other seven finalists finished anywhere from second to fourth in their respective conferences, preparing to peak at the most opportune time and then making the most of the last three weeks.
Saturday's Finals kick off at noon and 3 p.m., with Division 4 followed by Division 1 at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek and Division 3 followed by Division 2 at Comstock Park. All will be broadcast live with subscription on MHSAA.tv, with audio available on MHSAANetwork.com. See below for glances at all eight finalists, and come back to Second Half later Saturday for coverage of all four championship games.
DIVISION 1
EAST KENTWOOD
Record/rank: 15-3-5, No. 19
Coach: John Conlon, 17th season (308-52-37)
League finish: Third in Ottawa-Kent Conference Red
Championship history: Four Division 1 titles (most recent 2012).
Players to watch: Haris Dzafic, jr. GK (0.50 goals-against average, 13 shutouts); Adis Guric, jr. F (10 goals, 9 assists); Narcis Sprecic, sr. F (11 goals, 7 assists).
Outlook: East Kentwood has risen from three seasons without District titles to make its fifth Division 1 Final over the last decade – and in grand fashion, eliminating among others No. 4 Rockford, No. 20 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, No. 16 Traverse City West and No. 14 Novi on the way. The Falcons have won 12 of their last 13, and 10 by shutout during that run, while avenging two losses to Rockford by beating the Rams 1-0 in the District Final. Junior forward Adrian Diaz had 11 goals as well entering the week, and senior midfielder Jeo Garcia had nine goals and eight assists.
TROY ATHENS
Record/rank: 19-4-2, No. 6
Coach: Todd Heugh, sixth season (96-21-16)
League finish: Third in Oakland Activities Association Red
Championship history: Four MHSAA titles (most recent 1997), one runner-up finish.
Players to watch: Mason Maziasz, sr. GK (0.53 goals-against average, 15 shutouts); Shamik Patel, sr. M (8 goals, 10 assists); Sami Sami, jr. F (12 goals, 4 assists).
Outlook: Athens is making its deepest run under Heugh, who played on the 1989 Class A championship team and led Rochester to the Division 1 title in 2002 while boys coach at that school from 2000-05. The Redhawks entered the postseason with two straight losses but have outscored six playoff opponents by a combined 18-4 – and avenged an earlier loss to Rochester with a 2-1 Semifinal win. Junior forward Cole Valentine adds another scoring option up front, entering this week with nine goals and four assists.
DIVISION 2
DEARBORN DIVINE CHILD
Record/rank: 12-7-4, unranked
Coach: Dean Kowalski, second season (27-15-5)
League finish: Fourth in Detroit Catholic League AA
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Shane Ciucci, sr. F (9 goals, 9 assists); Justin Stack, sr. M (8 goals, 5 assists); Evan Mazurek, jr. GK (1.25 goals-against average, 8 shutouts).
Outlook: Divine Child was riding an 0-4-2 stretch into this postseason, but stormed back to make the Finals for the first time with five shutouts in six games, including 2-0 over No. 13 Dexter in the Regional Semifinal. Ciucci earned an all-state honorable mention as a junior and is one of 11 seniors including eight who start. Seven players had scored at least three goals heading into this week, including also seniors Alex Higgins (seven) and Noah Cieglo (six). Kowalski took over the program last season after a decade as an assistant.
MATTAWAN
Record/rank: 21-4-2, No. 11
Coach: Kirt Brown, 11th season (149-75-23)
League finish: Third in Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Jarrett Hageman, soph. F (27 goals, 5 assists); Evan Marquess, jr. F (5 goals, 11 assists); Casey Kirkbride, sr. GK (0.68 goals-against average, 12 shutouts).
Outlook: Mattawan made the Semifinals last season but graduated 11 seniors from that team, and yet has taken the next step for the first time. The Wildcats also have won at least 20 games for the second straight season under Brown, despite playing in a league including Division 1 No. 2 Portage Northern and No. 18 Portage Central – and suffering three of their four losses this fall to those two teams. Mattawan has won eight straight, a streak that started with a 1-0 win over No. 7 Coldwater and during the tournament has included shutouts of No. 16 Stevensville Lakeshore, No. 8 Holland and No. 1 East Lansing and also a win over No. 12 Marshall.
DIVISION 3
FLINT POWERS CATHOLIC
Record/rank: 17-3-3, No. 4
Coach: Tony Rowe, fifth season (81-23-10)
League finish: Second in Saginaw Valley League
Championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 2013).
Players to watch: Chase Knoblock, sr. F (10 goals, 13 assists); Andrew Simon, jr. M (6 goals, 15 assists); Steven Tuttle, sr. M (12 goals, 11 assists).
Outlook: After leading the Chargers to the Division 3 title in his second season in 2013, alum Tony Rowe has them back in the Final after a run that has included wins over No. 7 Clawson and No. 13 Lansing Catholic. Powers has outscored its six postseason opponents by a combined 27-2 and is on a 14-game unbeaten streak. Knoblock and Simon earned all-state honorable mentions last season but have plenty of scoring help in addition to Tuttle; junior forward Bryan Lendzion led with 17 goals entering this week, and junior midfielder Mason Smith had scored 13.
GRAND RAPIDS CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 20-1-4, No. 1
Coach: Brian Hughes, seventh season (record N/A)
League finish: Second in O-K Blue.
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Langston Cooper, jr. (12 goals, 4 assists); Fernando Garcia, sr. (21 goals, 12 assists); Alec Winden, jr. (18 goals, 18 assists).
Outlook: Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s first run to an MHSAA Final also has included the first District and Regional titles in program history. The team’s only loss this fall was to Division 2 No. 2 Spring Lake, and the playoff run has included wins over No. 2 Hudsonville Unity Christian, No. 8 Paw Paw and No. 12 Charlevoix. In addition to the high scorers above, senior midfielder Josh Steffes is a key contributor; he made the all-state second team last season.
DIVISION 4
BURTON GENESEE CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 22-2-1, No. 6
Coach: Doug Anderson, eighth season (131-43-11)
League finish: Does not play in a conference.
Championship history: Division 4 champion 2015.
Players to watch: Cole Russell, sr. M (21 goals, 16 assists); Zach Noecker, sr. GK (0.63 goals-against average, 15 shutouts), Caleb DuPree, sr. F (27 goals, 9 assists).
Outlook: Going back to last season’s perfect run, Genesee Christian won 33 straight games including the first five of this fall, and has now won nine straight while also challenging itself in losses to much larger Fenton and Lake Fenton. The Soldiers haven’t given up a goal in the postseason, outscoring six opponents by a combined 24-0, with the latest shutout over No. 3 Ann Arbor Greenhills. Noecker, Russell and senior midfielder Riley Buchalski (5 goals, 5 assists) made the all-state first team last season, and DuPree made the second team.
MUSKEGON CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 13-8-4, unranked
Coach: Bill Moulatsiotis, sixth season (72-49-7)
League finish: Tied for third in Lakes 8 Conference
Championship history: Division 4 runner-up 2008.
Players to watch: Jose Zambrano, jr. F; Connor O’Neill, sr. GK; Jose Mojica, jr. M. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: Muskegon Catholic Central has been one of the surprises of the tournament, downing No. 4 North Muskegon, No. 9 Grand Rapids Covenant Christian and No. 18 Kalamazoo Hackett after falling to North Muskegon and Covenant Christian during the regular season. But Zambrano was an all-state second-team pick last season and O’Neill and Mojica were honorable mentions, so the upsets can’t be entirely shocking. The Crusaders have won 10 of their last 13 games.
PHOTO: Genesee Christian's Caleb DuPree (left) works to maintain control of the ball during last season's Division 4 Final win over Kalamazoo Hackett.
Performance: WMC's Jameson Goorman
November 1, 2019
Jameson Goorman
Muskegon Western Michigan Christian senior – Soccer
The Warriors’ senior keeper is the first to credit the defenders in front of him for Western Michigan Christian’s five shutouts in six Division 4 tournament games over the last three weeks. But he deserves ample credit as well, and came up with a number of key saves in last week’s 2-1 shootout win over top-ranked Grandville Calvin Christian to help his team to the Semifinals and earn the MHSAA “Performance of the Week.”
Fourth-ranked WMC will face No. 2 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett in Saturday’s Division 4 Final, and it can be argued no team has traveled a tougher road to the season’s final day. After blanking three District opponents, Goorman helped the Warriors to a 3-0 shutout of No. 3 North Muskegon in the Regional Semifinal. Next was Calvin, and Goorman made two saves during the second period of overtime and two more during the shootout, including on Calvin’s final shot to ice the win. He then had another shutout as WMC defeated No. 5 Dansville in Wednesday’s Semifinal, his 14th shutout this season, which took his goals-against average down to 0.57. Goorman joined the varsity for the District as a freshman and then was the part-time starter for the first part of his sophomore year before taking over when his partner in net was injured. He made the Division 4 all-state third team in 2018 and over his career has logged 45 shutouts, seventh-most in MHSAA history.
Goorman also has played baseball and basketball during his high school career, although he has decided to not play basketball this winter. But the court certainly has had a major impact on Jameson as an athlete, directly and indirectly – his grandfather Jim Goorman led WMC’s boys basketball varsity to 504 wins and five Class D titles from 1980-2012. There’s also a family background in soccer championships – Jameson’s dad Jamie was on the Warriors’ 1988 Class C-D title-winning team. Jameson is hoping to continue playing soccer at the collegiate level and also carries a grade-point average approaching 3.5. He plans to study either nursing or accounting.
Coach David Hulings said: “He knows the game and is able to interpret what he sees so quickly that he’s able to do what he needs to do. This year he had two really great saves, one against Reeths-Puffer that kept us in the game and allowed us to finish with a tie. The other was against Leland in the last five minutes of the game. He made a tremendous save and we won 1-0. … In our first game against Orchard View, they had seven breakaways and Jameson saved every one of them. Those were give-me goals, and he stopped them. I don’t know of a goalkeeper in my nearly three decades of coaching who is better 1-on-1 than Jamo.” (Comments first appeared in the Local Sports Journal.)
Performance Point: “I think since we got to the playoffs, we’ve been playing our best soccer,” Goorman said. “I haven’t had to make a ton of saves, other than the PKs, so most of the credit should go to my defense. (Opponents) haven’t had a ton of opportunities. Against Grandville Calvin Christian we went to a PK shootout. I’ve always been pretty good at PKs, so I just go in there thinking I’m going to save every single PK. For me, I was pretty confident going into it. … My sophomore and junior years, we lost in PKs both years in Regionals. We did not want to go out on PKs again, so we’ve been practicing that all year. I was getting pretty confident in our chances in that. My sophomore and junior year I felt really nervous, but going into the last shootout I felt really confident; I didn’t feel that nervous . I was more excited than I was nervous.”
It’s the guys in front of me: “Brandon Fles, I think he’s one of the top two defenders in the state if not the best defender in the state, in my opinion. He’s been phenomenal since sophomore year. Him and Jake Betten, Isaiah Visker and Brandon Eenigenburg, the whole back line has played really well. I think most of the credit should go to them. There haven’t been too many teams that have challenged me a lot. There’s been some shots, but a lot of them have been from far out and not too hard to handle.”
Playoff path: “Calvin, North Muskegon and Dansville were all really quality teams. … With our team, it’s probably a little different than with any other team. We really like to stay loose, relaxed and just be ourselves for the games. And during practices we stay loose; we have fun. We’re just enjoying every minute of it. … It’s definitely not easy to have fun and stay loose and play hard and keep the intensity up, but I think that’s something we’ve just learned to do well going into the postseason. We’ve been trying to prepare ourselves all year for this, so I don’t think it’s been too hard to bring our best game every single game.”
Grandpa taught us: “It’s awesome being in a family with him. He’s really showed me how to win and how to have confidence, but also not (to) be overconfident and cocky. (He) showed me how to be humble, and I think I really appreciate that – and just how always to have good sportsmanship.”
Pitch play: “(Soccer has) probably come the most natural to me. I’ve had to work harder in baseball to get good at that – I’ve worked at that my whole life. I think soccer has come more naturally, and I’ve put more time and effort into that. I started playing club soccer my eighth grade year. It helped me so much with my feet, helped me get going, and then I started to really love soccer. I played it a lot more, so it became really fun for me, and I love my team. … I think after my sophomore year, I really just started to realize that I loved it more and I enjoyed playing it and I was getting better at it.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Past honorees
Oct. 24: Austin Plotkin, Brimley cross country - Report
Oct. 17: Jack Spamer, Brighton cross country - Report
Oct. 10: Kaylee Maat, Hudsonville volleyball - Report
Oct. 3: Emily Paupore, Negaunee cross country - Report
Sept. 26: Josh Mason, South Lyon soccer - Report
Sept. 19: Ariel Chang, Utica Eisenhower golf - Report
Sept. 12: Jordyn Shipps, DeWitt swimming - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Muskegon Western Michigan Christian's Jameson Goorman lines up a kick downfield. (Middle) Goorman makes a save during the Warriors' Regional Final shootout win last week over Grandville Calvin Christian. (Photos by Randy Riksen.)