Marian's Latest Title Run Familiar & New

June 14, 2019

By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half

EAST LANSING – For all the success the Bloomfield Hills Marian soccer team has enjoyed over the last two decades, the 2019 Division 2 Final offered the Mustangs a chance to achieve two things for the first time.

One, Marian won three consecutive championships for the first time in school history with a thrilling 2-1 overtime win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern. All three of those titles have come via victories over Forest Hills Northern in the title game.

Second, Michigan State University’s DeMartin Stadium provided a new venue for Marian to win its eighth title since 2003. Marian had won its titles in Richland, Grand Rapids, Troy and Williamston, but never had appeared in a Final held at MSU.

“The last time we won two in a row, we got knocked out on the first night (of the playoffs),” Marian head coach Barry Brodsky said. “We did let them know that there has only been two Marian players since I’ve been here that have won three state championships, and they weren’t in a row. Now, we have seven or eight who have just joined those two.”

The game-winner came with 4:18 remaining in the second period of overtime, off Marian’s 12th corner kick of the game.

Marian senior Sara Stroud delivered the ball into the box, and amidst a flurry of bodies, sophomore Maria Askounis put the ball into the net to make it 2-1 Marian.

“My coaches told me to stay at the far post, and so I stayed on the far post,” Askounis said. “That’s where the ball went, and I just tapped it in. I scored last game, but not like this in the state championship. It feels amazing.”

The Mustangs were frustrated at not being able to convert any of their previous 11 corner kicks in the contest, but ultimately it was a corner kick that was good to Marian again.

Brodsky said game-winning goals in the Catholic League final and in a 1-0 District win over Detroit Country Day also came on corner kicks.

“It’s not a secret,” Brodsky said. “You play great defense and you do great on restarts, you’re going to win a lot of games.”

Marian also won despite having to play the late stages of the game without all-state Dream Team forward Jansen Eichenlaub, who will play next at University of Virginia.

Eichenlaub suffered a hamstring injury with 18 minutes left in regulation and didn’t return.

It was more heartache for Forest Hills Northern, which has frustration that stretches beyond losing to Marian three straight years in the Final.

The Huskies lost for the fourth straight time in the championship game and fifth time since 2010.

Forest Hills Northern lost in the 2016 title game to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and in the 2010 Final to Marian as well.

If there is a silver lining for the Huskies, it’s that they will graduate just two seniors.

“If we didn’t come out and play good, I would be more upset about it,” Forest Hills Northern head coach Daniel Siminski said. “It was a pretty even game I thought, which was a far cry (from) two years ago. We are getting there.”

Forest Hills Northern took a 1-0 lead with 34:21 left in the first half on a goal by sophomore Grace Sayers, who took a beautiful lead pass along the ground from junior Alyssa Greshak in the box and buried the chance inside the far post.  

Marian tied the game 1-1 with 35:57 left on a goal by sophomore Emily Rassel, who pounced on a loose ball in the box and placed a shot underneath the crossbar.

Eichenlaub flicked a pass into the box to Rassel after senior Katie Sullivan placed a cross toward Eichenlaub.

Marian carried the play in overtime and had a glorious chance with six minutes left in the first extra period when two Mustangs players broke in all alone on Forest Hills Northern goalie Parker Hutchinson, who made an initial save.

But the ball ricocheted to another Marian player, who shot the ball wide with nothing but the goal in front of her.

Ultimately though, Marian got the winning goal it needed, and added more history to its already storied program.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS: (Top) Marian hoists the championship trophy after Saturday's Division 2 Final win over Forest Hills Northern. (Middle) Megan Kraus gathers a shot for the Mustangs.

Plenty to Celebrate for Stoney Creek

June 17, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

EAST LANSING – Happy Birthday, Emily Solek. Happy first championship, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek.

Friday surely will be a milestone day to remember for the lone scorer in this season’s MHSAA Division 1 Final – and also for teammates who with her earned the program’s first girls soccer championship, against most expectations.

Stoney Creek entered the postseason ranked No. 10 in Division 1, the same spot it occupied in the first state coaches poll in mid-April and its highest ranking this spring. But it finished No. 1 Friday, with Solek connecting on a penalty kick with just under 11 minutes to play, giving the junior midfielder a little more to celebrate than ice cream and cake.

“Coming into this season, there were a lot of doubts about this team,” Solek said. “I think just because we had 12 seniors graduating last year, that it was just going to be a new team, new players and hard to get the vibe going.

“I think we were all up for the challenge.”

Stoney Creek’s only other MHSAA championship game appearance came in 2005, in Division 2. The Cougars exited last season in the Regional Semifinal with a shootout loss to Grand Blanc, the eventual Division 1 runner-up.

Given that that team graduated five players who earned all-state recognition, and this season’s team brought back only three seniors, it was fair to not expect much more of a run this time.

But that clearly wasn’t giving Stoney Creek (18-3-3) enough credit.

The Cougars earned their first Regional title since that last championship game run 11 years ago and got to MSU in part by downing No. 2 Utica Eisenhower, No. 4 Novi, No. 7 Utica Ford and No. 14 Troy Athens.

“We just realized that we just have to work our hardest, and then good things will come from that,” Solek said. “Our motto was kinda like, ‘Game by Game,’ and that’s how we took it.”

Stoney Creek had 12 shots Friday to Canton’s four, but only four on goal. Canton’s defense gave up only five goals over seven MHSAA postseason games.

But the Cougars kept pressuring the Chiefs on Friday. Three of those shots on goal came during the second half, and Canton senior keeper Jordan Anheuser made an especially impressive set of stops near the 24-minute mark in the second half when she punched away a crossing pass and then slid into the attack to deflect another shot and diffuse a potential rally.

Stoney Creek received the penalty shot after a long pass was launched in front of the Canton net and an attempted header toward the goal drew the foul. Solek punched her deciding kick into the lower right side of the net because “that’s where I go every time on my PKs,” she said.

“Canton did just a great job of winning the ball in the air and getting us out of the zone,” Stoney Creek coach Bryan Mittelstadt said. “We kept trying to push and push and push. (They have) a very strong back line and a very disciplined goalie. We just kept trying to get through the back line, and it was very difficult all day. “

The Chiefs’ run to East Lansing also was considered unexpected, seeing as they weren’t ranked at the end of the regular season after falling in their last two games before the start of tournament play.

But Canton (18-2-4), seeking its first MHSAA title since 2001, made its point by downing top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 2-1 in the Semifinal.

“It’s a disappointing way to end the season, but I am so proud of my team,” Anheuser said. “To not be ranked and go this far, we were definitely the underdog, and I’m proud of everything we accomplished this season. (We’re) still going out on a good note.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS: (Top) Rochester Hills Stoney Creek hoists its first MHSAA championship trophy in girls soccer Friday at DeMartin Stadium. (Middle) Stoney Creek’s Isabella Langusch (18) and Canton’s Jennifer Richmond work for possession.