Liggett Shoots, Scores first Title since 2005
June 17, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Although his team found itself in an unfamiliar situation Friday afternoon, David Dwaihy had an idea how at least the first part might play out.
As Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett readied for its first tie-breaker shootout of this spring – and in the season’s final game – Dwaihy, the eighth-year coach, decided to simply ask his players to raise their hands if they wanted one of the penalty kicks.
“I had a few in mind who I wanted to take the shot,” Dwaihy said. “I ended up just saying raise your hand if you want one. The hands flew up, and the freshmen all raised their hands.”
And then the most “courageous and bold” of them all finished the Knights’ first MHSAA championship run since she was getting ready to start kindergarten.
Freshman defender Kate Birgbauer was her team’s fourth and final shooter and put her attempt just past the crossbar into the top of the net to give Liggett a 4-2 advantage in the shootout and a 1-0 win over Montrose in the Division 4 championship game at DeMartin Stadium.
Sophomores Kelly Solak and Alexis Wenger and junior Maddie Wu also made kicks as Montrose missed their first two tries, setting Birgbauer up to end the game.
“I love shootouts. I like the pressure,” Birgbauer said. “I actually turned to my friend Izzy (Brusilow, the team’s second-leading scorer this season) and I was like, ‘Are you 100 percent sure you’re going to make this?’ She was like, ‘Oh, I’m not sure,’ so I was like, I’ll take it. So I stepped up and shot it.”
“They’re courageous and a very bold, confident group – especially our center back who scored the winner, Katie Birgbauer,” Dwaihy added. “She wanted it.”
Liggett (19-2-1) won its fifth straight District title to start this run and repeated as Regional champion as well, but hadn’t played in an MHSAA championship game since winning Division 4 in 2005.
Despite their relative youth – the Knights had only three seniors this season – a number of key players gained experience during last season’s run. But they still hadn’t been pushed to this brink during a season in which they gave up only 14 goals.
Montrose (23-4-1), meanwhile, was playing in its first MHSAA championship game in girls soccer after winning its first Regional title, and ended this season giving up only nine goals.
The more upperclassmen-laden Rams went on the attack immediately. Sophomore Remington Hobson broke away at 28:04 in the first half, but Liggett junior keeper Kara Francis jumped in front to deflect the drive away from the goal. Senior Ellory Barnette sent a header over the net off a corner with 14:04 to go in the half, and Liggett sophomore defender Teagan Cornell headed away another Montrose shot midway through the second half that would have found the net had she not dropped back to cover the corner.
The shot differential wasn’t much during regulation, with Montrose tallying nine to Liggett’s eight. But the Rams had 11 corner kicks in the game to Liggett’s one, giving them better opportunities to attack.
“That’s turned out to be our bread and butter this year, set pieces, corners, and we came close,” Montrose coach Jason Perrin said. “If you get 11 of them, you’ve got to put one in.
"But they’re very similar to us – they get 10 girls behind the ball, they clog up the passing lanes. We do that. It was kinda like playing ourselves, a little bit.”
The game appeared over before the shootout, but only for a minute, when a Liggett throw-in landed in the Montrose net with 5:09 to go in the second period of overtime – but the goal was called off because it didn’t touch a player from either team on the way.
“I think that lit a fire in our hearts a bit,” Birgbauer said. “We got mad, and we came back.”
Montrose had more experience in shootouts – they’d gone 1-1 previously, with a win that way over No. 2 Elk Rapids in the Regional Final. But Liggett apparently was plenty prepared despite a lack of shootout experience.
Liggett’s Francis and Montrose senior keeper Alexis Rush both made four saves while controlling play in front of their respective nets. Rush is one of eight seniors who will graduate from the Rams’ most successful team.
“We had a good core coming back. We won 17 games (last season). But we hadn’t won a District since 2001. So it’s hard to dream too much beyond the District or Regional level,” Perrin said. “But this team grew with confidence. Really, once we beat (Saginaw) Nouvel in the District Finals, I could just tell we had the mindset to go as far as they wanted, and they put on a good run.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Teammates converge on Liggett’s Kate Birgbauer after the freshman’s winning shot in Friday’s Division 4 Final. (Middle) Liggett’s Rebecca Lohman moves the ball to a teammate while Montrose players pursue.
Preview: 4 More Seek to Join Champs List
June 16, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Half of the teams playing in MHSAA Girls Soccer Finals on Friday or Saturday will be seeking their first championships. One, Montrose, will be playing in a championship game for the first time.
And at least one of those four finales, in Division 2, will see some team celebrate an MHSAA title for the first time.
That's just one of the possibilities to look forward to from this season's final weekend. Following is the schedule at DeMartin Stadium:
Division 1 - Friday - 4 p.m.
Canton (17-2-4) vs Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (17-3-3)
Division 2 - Saturday - 4 p.m.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (16-3-4) vs Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (20-1-3)
Division 3 - Saturday - 1 p.m.
Hudsonville Unity Christian (21-2-1) vs Flint Powers Catholic (21-2-1)
Division 4 - Friday - 1 p.m.
Montrose (23-3-1) vs Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett (18-2-1)
Tickets cost $8 per round and include admission to softball and baseball games those days also at MSU’s Old College Field. Radio broadcasts of all games can be heard online at MHSAAnetwork.com. All games will be streamed live online at MHSAA.TV and viewable on subscription basis. Click to order tickets in advance and for a parking map.
All statistics below are through Regionals. (Click for links to brackets and scores.)
DIVISION 1
CANTON
Record/rank: 17-2-4, unranked
Coach: Jeannine Reddy, sixth season (83-28-14)
League finish: First in Kensington Lakes Activities Association South
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2001), three runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Jennifer Richmond, jr. F; Jordan Anheuser, sr. GK. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: Canton should be riding high from eliminating top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in the Semifinal after needing overtime shootouts twice to advance in earlier rounds. This will be the Chiefs’ first championship game appearance since the last title run 15 years ago. The only losses this spring came in the final two regular-season games, against No. 4 Novi and No. 8 Walled Lake Northern. Richmond earned an all-state honorable mention last season.
ROCHESTER HILLS STONEY CREEK
Record/rank: 17-3-3, No. 10
Coach: Bryan Mittelstadt, sixth season (93-20-6)
League finish: Third in Oakland Activities Conference Red.
Championship history: Division 2 runner-up 2005.
Players to watch: Taylor Paradoski, sr. F (21 goals, 8 assists); Emily Solek, jr. M (8 goals, 11 assists); Gina Cerny, jr. GK (0.76 goals-against average, 9 shutouts).
Outlook: Stoney Creek won its first Regional title since that 2005 championship game run and has beaten four top-15 teams during this one – No. 2 Utica Eisenhower, No. 4 Novi, No. 7 Utica Ford and No. 14 Troy Athens. The Cougars have outscored their six postseason opponents by a combined score of 11-2. Paradoski, one of two senior starters and three on the roster, made the Division 1 all-state second team last season.
DIVISION 2
GRAND RAPIDS FOREST HILLS NORTHERN
Record/rank: 16-3-4, unranked
Coach: Daniel Siminski, third season (48-9-7)
League finish: Second in Ottawa-Kent Conference Bronze.
Championship history: Division 2 runner-up 2010.
Players to watch: Emily Ashby, soph. M/D (4 goals, 8 assists); Sophia Terzes, soph. F/M (9 goals, 20 assists); Amanda Young, jr. GK (0.54 goals-against average, 13 shutouts).
Outlook: Forest Hills Northern beat No. 13 Dexter in the Semifinal to return to the Finals, but could become a regular contender the next few seasons as defender Shelby Ostrander is the only senior. Ashby made the all-state third team and Terzes earned an honorable mention last season as freshmen, and junior Natalie Belsito and sophomore Lauren Kozal are the team’s leading scorers with 17 and 11 goals, respectively.
PONTIAC NOTRE DAME PREP
Record/rank: 20-1-3, No. 3
Coach: Jim Stachura, seventh season (110-35-10)
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic League Division 2
Championship history: Division 3 runner-up 2013.
Players to watch: Rosella LoChirco, sr. M (15 goals, 11 assists); Celia Gaynor, soph. M (18 goals, 16 assists); Erika Wiest, sr. F (15 goals, 14 assists).
Outlook: Notre Dame Prep’s return to the Finals included wins over No. 1 DeWitt, No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Marian, No. 8 Warren Regina and No. 14 Fenton, with none of six postseason opponents scoring more than a goal on the Fighting Irish. Keeper Haley Williams was giving up only 0.57 goals per game and had nine shutouts coming into the week. LoChirco made the all-state first team last season.
DIVISION 3
FLINT POWERS CATHOLIC
Record/rank: 21-2-1, No. 1
Coach: Art Moody, ninth season (160-39-15)
League finish: First in Saginaw Valley League South
Championship history: Division 3 champion 2011, five runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Sophie Bubnar, soph. F (16 goals, 17 assists); Erin Emmert, sr. M (6 goals, 9 assists); Rachel Phillpotts, jr. D (11 goals, 4 assists).
Outlook: Powers will play in its first Final since finishing runner-up in 2012 thanks to a Quarterfinal win over No. 4 Grosse Ile in addition to previous tournament wins over No. 8 Birch Run and No. 14 Macomb Lutheran North. Phillpotts made the all-state first team last season and is one of three defenders honored; juniors Abbey Clothier and Sydney Willhoite both earned honorable mentions in 2015, and Emmert made the all-state second team. The Chargers have given up only 16 goals this season, and freshman forward Rachel Rasins alone leads Powers with 18 goals.
HUDSONVILLE UNITY CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 21-2-1, No. 2
Coach: Randy Heethuis, 27th season (509-89-29)
League finish: First in O-K Green.
Championship history: Nine MHSAA titles (most recent 2015), three runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Maddy VanDyke, sr. D (11 goals, 7 assists); Alexis Ponstein, soph. F (10 goals, 11 assists); Emily Ponstein, jr. GK (0.39 goals-against average, 13 shutouts).
Outlook: Unity Christian’s run is up to two straight titles and three over the last four seasons. The Crusaders have gotten past No. 5 Paw Paw and No. 6 Freeland so far this run, outscoring its six tournament opponents by a combined score of 26-1. Unity Christian has given up only 11 goals this season and more than one only twice. VanDyke is a two-time all-state first-teamer. Senior forward Aubree DeRoo had 10 goals entering this week and adds another scoring threat.
DIVISION 4
GROSSE POINTE WOODS UNIVERSITY LIGGETT
Record/rank: 18-2-1, No. 4
Coach: David Dwaihy, eighth season (97-44-3)
League finish: First in Michigan Independent Athletic Conference
Championship history: Division 4 champion 2005.
Players to watch: Alexis Wenger, soph. F (28 goals, 10 assists); Kelly Solak, soph. M (12 goals, 12 assists); Maddie Wu, jr. M (2 goals).
Outlook: Liggett won its fifth straight District title and second straight Regional this spring, and could take the next step with a young but talented nucleus. In addition to Wenger and Solak, freshman midfielder Izzy Brusilow had 12 goals and 13 assists entering the week, and junior keeper Kara Francis had 10 shutouts. Senior Madison Jerome and junior Rebecca Lohman joined Wu and Solak among those who earned all-state honors at some level in 2015.
MONTROSE
Record/rank: 23-3-1, No. 8
Coach: Jason Perrin, 13th season (183-77-20)
League finish: Second in Genesee Area Conference
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Alexis Rush, sr. GK (0.35 goals-against average, 20 shutouts); Paige Renshaw, sr. M (31 goals, 17 assists); Emma Gipe, fr. F (19 goals, 9 assists).
Outlook: The Rams’ best season has included their first Regional title and now this opportunity but is not entirely a surprise, as Montrose has had a winning record every spring under Perrin. Renshaw earned an all-state honorable mention last season and has plenty of scoring help; in addition to Gipe, senior Ellory Barnette and sophomore Amber Wing both had 14 goals heading into this week, and sophomore Remington Hobson had 11. Montrose handed No. 2 Elk Rapids its first and only loss in the Regional Final and downed top-ranked Lansing Christian in the Semifinal.
PHOTO: Hudsonville Unity Christian players hoist their latest Division 3 championship trophy last season amid the fans and cameras at DeMartin Stadium.