Freeland 'Family' Ready to Charge Again
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
April 18, 2018
Winning MHSAA championships runs in Mackenzie Stroebel’s family.
Her sister Lindsay won a basketball title at Saginaw Nouvel, while her mother Dawn did the same at Carrollton.
After coming tantalizingly close in each of the past three seasons, Mackenzie Stroebel is ready to continue her family’s streak with her other family – the Freeland girls soccer team.
“Ever since we lost (in the 2017 Division 3 Final), that’s all I really thought about, is getting there and winning it this year,” Stroebel said. “My mom and sister, they won state championships in basketball, so it makes me want to go that far and win it. Seeing how the community supports everyone, it’s just a good feeling. It would make some school history for us, because no soccer team has ever done it. That’s what I’m striving for, to help make history within our school.”
The Falcons have already made plenty of school history over the past four years, seeing an unprecedented run of success under coach Lauren Kemerer. Since Kemerer took over prior to the 2014 season, Freeland has gone 83-9-4 (including a win in its lone game this season), winning four straight Regional titles, which resulted in four straight Division 3 Semifinal berths. The 2014 Regional title was the first in program history.
“It took a lot of restructuring, and establishing my views and my beliefs in soccer,” said Kemerer, who played collegiately at Schoolcraft College and Saginaw Valley State University. “Not that the coach before me was doing things wrong. But when I came in I said, ‘Listen, this is a clean slate,’ and revamped everything. I kind of put my spin on things, my views, and how I believe athletes should be dedicated to the sport, the team and the school.”
Thanks to Kemerer’s approach of showing rather than telling, the girls quickly bought in. That, combined with a strong soccer community in Freeland, led to quick results.
“The really great thing about the Freeland community is all these girls have played with each other and on the same team while they were growing up,” Kemerer said. “The relationship they have on and off the field, they’re pretty much inseparable. It makes the community and team a really tight-knit family.”
With the loss of a strong senior class, including all-state midfielders Michelle Herring and Jessica Piper, the Falcons hope that strong community can lead to a quick integration of the underclassmen on their roster.
Despite the fact outdoor practices have been at a premium thanks to the weather, the Falcons feel that integration is coming along nicely.
“I think the biggest thing with underclassmen is they are nervous, so as soon as they feel comfortable and calm with those nerves of playing at the varsity level, they’ll be successful,” Stroebel said. “Our team is really close, so that helps, too. Most of the underclassmen that are varsity this year got pulled up for tournaments last year. We know them, we all walk the same halls, so you see them pretty much every day.”
There is plenty of talent returning to help those underclassmen and take the pressure off them. Stroebel was a first-team all-state forward a year ago, while junior forward Autumn Kloha was second-team all-state and senior keeper Alexa Walker earned honorable mention.
“We have a really young team, but we’re going to be solid this year again,” Kemerer said. “Even though we’re really young, we have a lot of talent.”
The veterans on the team have set a goal of winning the Division 3 title. That’s not uncommon, of course, but for Freeland it’s not overly ambitious. It’s also different than a year ago.
In 2017, the Falcons set a goal of defeating three-time reigning champion Hudsonville Unity Christian, the team that knocked them out in the Semifinals in 2015 and 2016.
It was a big goal, and one Freeland accomplished but in the Semifinal, one game short of winning it all. Without Piper, who was injured in the Semifinal win against Unity Christian, and with their season goal completed, Freeland found it difficult to keep up with a strong Flint Powers team.
“Going into the game, we kind of already were set because (defeating Unity Christian) was our goal,” Freeland senior Hannah Doran said. “I don’t think we were really prepared for it, because we had prepared for the Semifinal game. We had our hearts in it, but I don’t think we were all there for the last game.”
The 4-0 loss was a learning experience, however, as Freeland was able to see what was needed to compete for a title. So far, Kemerer has seen a determination to match that.
“They know what it takes now to be at that level,” Kemerer said. “They were just crushed last year after they lost. I told them, ‘This game is going to be a big game; it’s faster paced.’ Getting a taste of knowing what it takes to win at that level was good for them. They’re hungry. They’re very much hungry for that title.”
With the goal in place, and a plan to get there, the Falcons are ready to make history for the Freeland family.
“It would make school history, first of all,” Kloha said. “I would just feel accomplished winning a state championship. That’s what I’ve been working for my whole high school career and through travel, to win a state championship.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Freeland’s Mackenzie Stroebel (24) carries possession upfield during last season’s Division 3 Final against Flint Powers Catholic. (Middle) Autumn Kloha prepares to pull up for a shot at Powers’ goal during the finale.
Marian Continues D2 Dominance with 4th-Straight Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 18, 2021
EAST LANSING – Olivia DeConinck had a feeling Friday after she strode from her defensive position to join the Bloomfield Hills Marian attack on a corner kick.
The Mustangs senior and Bucknell soccer signee didn’t make the run she typically would for a header, and that left her in perfect position to score the goal that put her team on track for a fourth-straight MHSAA Division 2 Girls Soccer Finals title.
“I guess it was just instinct,” she said. “I’m not really sure, my body just kind of took over. I knew someone needed to be there, so I got there.”
Marian’s 3-0 victory gave the program its ninth title overall, as its hold on Division 2 soccer in the state has lasted since 2017 and even spanned a canceled season. This year’s team finished 13-3-1 and did not allow a goal throughout the postseason, outscoring its opponents 26-0 over six matches.
“We win because we have really good players,” Marian coach Barry Brodsky said. “They’re smart. They’re in the classroom very smart, and that makes coaching a pleasure.”
DeConinck’s instinctive play didn’t lead to the winning goal, nor did it come late enough in the game to be considered a game-sealer. But in making the score 2-0 early in the second half, it may have been the goal that took the most wind out of a Spring Lake team that felt very in the game up until that point.
When Marian freshman Elle Ervin extended the lead to 3-0 just 2 minutes, 30 seconds later, that became even more clear.
“I think the 1-0 lead, it still kind of got in their heads that they were just one goal away, one opportunity away from tying it up and getting back in the game,” DeConinck said. “I think once we put that second in there, we kind of proved our dominance and it lifted our spirits up.”
The goal came on what DeConinck described as a shot, but one she hoped one of her teammates could finish. She floated the ball to the opposite post, and it made its way into the net on its own. The official and the linesman conferred after the goal to make sure an offside Marian player had not had an impact on the play, and decided the goal stood.
“She’s been a full-time player since her freshman year, she’s going to Bucknell to play – she's a stud,” Brodsky said. “You get some studs on your team and you’re going to have a good team, and she’s one of them. She won’t like me saying it, but her two sisters before her were the same. I’ve had a DeConinck on the team since 2014, and this was the last one. They’re special. She’s a stud player, and a stud athlete, and a stud student, and a stud person.”
Ervin opened the scoring less than five minutes into the game, finishing after a goalmouth scramble. She had another chance midway through the first half, as she was left alone in the box for a header, but Spring Lake keeper Jessica Stewart was there to make the save.
Ervin, a freshman, was the team’s leading scorer on the season with 24 goals, and she’s one of 17 players who could return next season. So, while the Mustangs will graduate seven senior starters, there’s plenty of firepower remaining.
“Coming in at the very beginning, I did not know what to expect,” Ervin said. “I just knew we had a lot of people coming back with these seniors who had won two championships already, and I didn’t know what role I was going to play. Right when I came in, all of them were so accepting, and I was like, ‘Whoa, I am totally part of this team.’ We had our first couple games, and I realized I had to play a big role. I had to step up, even as a freshman.”
Spring Lake (15-4-2), which was making its first Finals appearance, had its own opportunities in the half, mostly off the foot of junior forward Meah Bajt. She powered one off the crossbar not long after Ervin’s goal and created her own breakaway chance near the midpoint of the half, but her shot spun wide of the Marian net.
The second half, however, was all Marian, as Mustangs keeper Izabel Toma had to make just one save in the game, and it came in the first half. Spring Lake’s Stewart, meanwhile, made eight stops.
“It was a crazy, crazy ride,” Spring Lake coach Becky May said. “I just threw a bunch of kids out there – they were in middle school last year – and now they’re playing on this big stage. You could just tell they were young, and there were mistakes made that were young mistakes, and we’ll work on them. But they have a ton of heart, and we got farther than anybody ever thought we would.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Marian's Emily Rassel (17) considers her next move Friday while Spring Lake's Ryann Gilchrist defends. (Middle) The Mustangs' Elle Ervin (10) winds up for a shot with the Lakers' Kate Lewkowski (17) in pursuit.