Marian Extends Title, Unbeaten Streaks
June 16, 2018
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
WILLIAMSTON – Usually, goals scored during the final minute of a half are considered backbreakers.
But there might have to be new terminology for what Bloomfield Hills Marian’s girls soccer team did in the final minute of the first half of Saturday’s Division 2 Final at Williamston High School.
One backbreaking goal wasn’t enough for Marian, which put its offensive firepower on full display by scoring two over the final 58 seconds of the first half to take a two-goal lead into halftime against Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
That proved to be the big momentum shift, as the Mustangs won their second MHSAA title in a row and seventh since 2003 with a 4-2 victory in what also was a rematch of last season’s championship game.
“Those were dynamite goals,” Marian head coach Barry Brodsky said. “To come back against us when we are up two is pretty difficult.”
Marian didn’t take long to get on the board, taking a 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the game on a goal by sophomore Chloe Aberlarde. She took a pass from Claudia Schilling and found herself alone in front of the Forest Hills Northern goal, burying the chance inside the far post.
Forest Hills Northern had an answer, tying the game at 1-1 with 14:02 left in the first half on a goal by Elyse DeSchryver, who fired a perfect shot from 30 yards out underneath the crossbar and into the net.
Forest Hills Northern appeared to be in good shape to go into halftime tied, until the Marian magic struck.
First, junior Jansen Eichenlaub got free down the right side of the field, dribbled towards the center of the goal and made no mistake, beating the keeper to make it 2-1 Mustangs with 58 seconds left before the break.
Then, with just 8.5 seconds remaining, senior Annie Bruce fired home a shot to make it 3-1 Marian.
Eichenlaub flicked a service into the box to Bruce’s feet to create the scoring opportunity.
“That got us pumped up,” Eichenlaub said. “We stress about the last five minutes and the first five minutes, so it was really big to win the last five minutes and get those two goals.”
Obviously, Forest Hills Northern was the opposite of pumped up going into halftime.
“The girls were tired, and we were hoping to get into halftime and regroup a little bit,” Forest Hills Northern head coach Daniel Siminski said. “They got a lot of momentum there, and it’s hard to dig yourself out of a hole like that against a team like Marian.”
The Mustangs scored to make it 4-1 with 32:13 left in the game on another goal by Bruce, who forcefully volleyed home a service into the box on a corner kick by Schilling.
Forest Hills Northern cut Marian’s lead to 4-2 with 29:10 remaining on another goal by DeSchryver, who got off a shot with her left foot from outside the box that once again went under the crossbar.
Marian completed its second consecutive unbeaten season, going 22-0-1 this spring after finishing 24-0 in 2017.
The Mustangs will enter the 2019 season on a 47-game unbeaten streak, with their last loss to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in a 2016 Semifinal.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Bruce said. “Usually we just try and stay together, and that’s exactly what we did. It was a team effort.”
It was the third straight loss in the championship game to Oakland County opponents for Forest Hills Northern (19-5-0), which fell to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in 2016 and Marian in 2017.
PHOTOS: (Top) Bloomfield Hills Marian’s Jansen Eichenlaub (9) works to keep possession surrounded by Forest Hills Northern defenders including Carly Andrus (14). (Middle) Forest Hills Northern’s Addie Brown, right, pushes the ball ahead while Marian’s Maria Askounis works to gain control.
Team of the Month: Saugatuck Girls Soccer
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 12, 2023
As mid-May approached two years ago, girls soccer was nowhere to be found in the Saugatuck trophy case, and the team’s championship banner hung blank in the school’s gym next to well-populated celebrations for cross country, track & field and other programs with histories of success.
Just less than 24 months later, things have changed – and are still accelerating as the Trailblazers are putting up numbers from the pitch now as well.
The Saugatuck girls soccer program capped its 2021 season by winning its first District title, then repeated last season. And just over a week ago, the Trailblazers clinched their first league championship in the sport, claiming the Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore title with a 3-0 win over Holland Black River.
Saugatuck’s girls soccer team – the MHSAA/Applebee’s “Team of the Month” for April – is undefeated since suffering its lone loss of the season March 27. The Trailblazers are 14-1, up to No. 9 in the Division 4 coaches poll, and show no signs of slowing down with 10 shutouts including five over their last six games.
“There’s a lot of enthusiasm, especially because soccer hasn’t been big in our school … so to actually get some notice for what we’re doing in soccer, I think our girls are just really super excited about all the attention they’ve received,” said Trailblazers coach Jordan Campbell, who took over the girls soccer program in 2014. “But I think they are also a pretty confident group. I think they expected to be able to compete really well, and last year we lost six games and I think our seniors this year took that all a little personally because they felt that we were better than some of those teams.
“It’s kind of like we want to make sure that (Saugatuck girls) soccer is not just a team that’s just around and can be competitive, but it’s a team that you’ve got to be prepared for.”
After the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19, Saugatuck won 12 games both of the last two. The Trailblazers finished 12-6-3 last year, and already this spring has avenged three of those losses and turned the three draws into three victories.
A group of seven seniors has set things in motion again after helping make the charge over the last two seasons. Senior Adele Nieuwsma moved to Saugatuck from out of state before the 2021 season and made the Division 4 all-state third team a year ago. Haley Rivera, Erin Moerler and Eva Kierzek join her as captains and came up through the Saugatuck recreation and community programs. Iris Kuipers, Ellen Martinsson and Mia Zerfas further bolster the senior class – Kuipers, along with sophomore keeper Kennedy Gustafson, earned all-state honorable mention in 2022.
The team is surging, and the program is growing. The Trailblazers are up about 10 players over totals from the last two seasons, to 35 this spring, which has allowed for varsity and junior varsity teams.
It was a memorable moment for sure when the “2021” was added to the girls soccer banner in the gym, signifying that first District title. These seniors may need to return to celebrate the “2023” for the league title – and perhaps more – that could be part of this memorable run before it finishes next month.
“We’ve had really solid core seniors, and they’ve really stepped up and I almost feel like we’re on autopilot with this group because they do everything on their own and they push each other, and they work to get each other involved and they care about the younger kids and try to get them involved,” Campbell said. “I think it’s a huge thing we’ve seen with this group coming up and getting some experience and building, and seeing where we were when they started as freshman to the last couple of years.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2022-23
March: Croswell-Lexington competitive cheer - Report
February: Hart girls & boys basketball - Report
January: Taylor Trillium Academy girls bowling - Report
December: Byron Center hockey - Report
November: Martin football - Report
October: Gladwin volleyball - Report
September: Negaunee girls tennis - Report
PHOTO courtesy of the Saugatuck athletic department.