Middleville T-K Aims to Make Playoff Splash
May 30, 2017
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
MIDDLEVILLE – When talking about perennial girls soccer powerhouses in the Grand Rapids area, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg might not be the first that comes to mind.
However, the rural school located south of the big city is beginning to make a name for itself on the pitch.
With a dramatic double-overtime win over Ada Forest Hills Eastern last week, the Trojans clinched a share of their third straight Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold championship.
Before that current three-year run in conference play, Middleville T-K had won only one conference title in school history.
The Trojans enter District play this afternoon with a sparkling 15-2-1 record and ranked No. 9 in Division 2.
“I don’t think we’ll ever get the publicity other teams do, but that’s OK,” seventh-year Trojans coach Joel Strickland said. “We are comfortable with who we are and I think we’re starting to get recognized a little, but maybe as not as much as I think they deserve.”
While winning conference titles has been satisfying, Strickland said postseason success is the key to gaining recognition.
“To win three in a row has been huge, but the next goal is we have to do some damage in the postseason to earn that respect,” he said. “We haven’t won a District title yet. That’s the next step for us.”
The Trojans will face a challenge in their District opener as they host No. 5 Richland Gull Lake, which won three straight MHSAA Division 2 Finals from 2013-15.
This year’s T-K squad includes five talented seniors, four who have committed to play at the college level, and they are confident in their abilities to pull off the upset.
“We would love to win Districts, and as a senior this is my last chance,” said Middleville T-K senior keeper Maddie Hutchins, who helped her team post 12 shutouts this season.
“No one is expecting us to win this game, but I feel like we have a real chance. It would be amazing if we could knock them out in the first round of Districts. I feel like if we’re going to do it, then this is the year. We have the talent, and as long as we play together then I think we’re pretty unstoppable. Don’t underestimate us.”
Another senior, Allexus Barnes, said winning in a District would help in their quest to gain more respect in the area.
“We’ve really grown as a team this year and we’re getting our name out there,” she said. “We’re showing people how strong we are. We have the conference titles, but I think we’re ready for that next step and I hope we can do it this year.”
The Trojans opened the season with a 4-0 loss to Grandville, but since have been on a tear. They’ve allowed only five more goals after those first four, bolstered by the play of Hutchins in net and an improved defense.
After graduating 10 from a year ago, including standout keeper Aly Miller and seven other starters, it took them a while to create their own identity.
“The first game was a little rough, but I think a lot of it was figuring out the communication issues that we may have had because we lost of a lot of senior defenders from last year,” Hutchins said. “After that, we’ve really stepped up and played as a unit and we’ve improved drastically. We’re playing really well in the back right now.”
Other senior contributors have been forward Alyvia Thorne and defenders Taylor Pratt and Breana Bouchard.
This year’s group is just as successful off the field. The squad has a cumulative grade point average of 4.03, and 12 players boast a 4.0 or higher grade point average.
Strickland expresses the importance of being well-rounded individuals who come together for the betterment of the team and the community.
“It’s about the team concept,” he said. “Understanding that it’s not about any individual. It’s about doing it together and doing it the right way. Just making sure it is bigger than just soccer. Doing well in the classroom, integrity and sportsmanship are big parts of the foundation of who we are as a program, and that winning comes with their hard work and putting in the effort out of the season.”
Many of the past and present players have competed together in the local travel Thornapple Area Soccer Club. It has become an avenue for girls to develop and hone their skills.
“That’s been a big part of our success as well,” Strickland said. “It’s an affordable club for kids who can’t afford to play at Midwest United or clubs like that. That has helped us, but this year’s team is a collaboration from all over.”
Many of the girls on the roster also play multiple sports.
“Being a smaller school, you need to have multi-sport athletes and I think that also helps them,” Strickland said. “It helps them work on different concepts. and they don’t get burned out in soccer. Having a break and playing something different is a good thing.”
A close-knit bond also has enabled the team to enjoy the experience.
“I think our camaraderie is awesome, and that’s the best part of our team,” Barnes said. “We all mesh really well together, and it has helped us a lot and brought us success.”
PHOTO: (Top) Middleville Thornapple Kellogg defender Breanna Bouchard (7) works to maintain possession. (Middle) Alyvia Thorne prepares to launch a kick during a game this season. (Photos by Marc Hutchins.)
Notre Dame Prep Caps Year of Memories
July 1, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
So many details of Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s first girls soccer championship run were memorable this spring, it’s sure to not be quickly forgotten in a community that’s had its share of sports success over the years.
Start with the series of tournament opponents the Fighting Irish had to conquer on the way to the Division 2 Final at Michigan State University – arguably the toughest postseason path of any team in any division with No. 1 DeWitt, No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Marian, No. 8 Warren Regina and No. 14 Fenton standing in the way.
And it all finished with a championship game filled with unexpected and unlikely heroics – but just the right mix to give Notre Dame Prep a 2-1 win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern at DeMartin Stadium.
The Applebee’s Team of the Month for June is continuing to relish an experience that's included the return of alumni to support the team in East Lansing and continued congratulations for the latest power to ascend from Oakland County's accomplished soccer community.
“It’s hard to maintain it, especially in this area; getting out of the District is a challenge in itself,” said coach Jim Stachura, who finished his seventh season with the girls team and was part of the staff when Troy’s boys won Division 1 in 2003. “But there’s an expectation to win now that wasn’t there in the past. The first year we made the Final (in 2013, which ended with a loss in Division 3 to Grand Rapids South Christian), it was very much a learning process, not just for the girls, but for the staff. I believe you have to learn to win before you go and win, and we’re expecting to stay up at that level.”
The Fighting Irish closed this spring with a 21-1-3 record after entering the postseason among the favorites with the No. 3 ranking in the final coaches association Division 2 regular-season poll.
They had opened the season with ties against Flint Powers Catholic (the eventual Division 3 runner-up) and Madison Heights Bishop Foley, and the lone loss came 1-0 to Marian in Detroit Catholic League play.
But that defeat to the five-time MHSAA champion Mustangs – who Notre Dame Prep would see again in a Division 2 Semifinal – proved the key to this season’s championship step.
“We looked back right away when the (postseason) draw was made, and we knew it was a really tough draw. But I told them we’d take it one day at a time, and the thing that set the wheels in motion was the loss to Marian in the league,” Stachura said. “We played well that game, and for the first time since I’ve been at NDP, we put it to them. The girls were sitting kinda somber after the game, and I said it was nothing to be ashamed of; from there on … we wanted to get a game against them, and we just started rolling.
“Things fell into place, but I really think we earned it this year. We played everybody. From the start of the season to the end of the season, we were up to the task for everybody except for one day.”
That loss in addition to the two early ties showed Stachura a lot about his leaders this spring – the team could’ve chosen to quit, but did not. But he also saw something promising in how his team won games despite missing players here and there with injuries and illnesses, and “because we were winning and winning not in our comfort zone, I knew we were going to learn from this and this team could be a state contender,” he said.
Fast forward to the incredible events of June 18.
Notre Dame Prep trailed Forest Hills Northern by a goal when junior Payton Williams, a defender, scored her first goal of the entire season on a sharply-shot free kick with 41 seconds left in regulation – and kept the Fighting Irish’s title chase alive.
That unexpected score was followed by overtime and then a move by Stachura that surely surprised those unfamiliar with Notre Dame Prep’s run to that point.
With the Fighting Irish facing a shootout, Stachura replaced his keeper in goal with sweeper Eileen Haig, who had a little more experience in similar situations after formerly playing keeper for her club team. Stachura had made a similar switch when Notre Dame Prep faced – and beat – Regina in a shootout in the Catholic League championship game.
The rest – two saves by Haig including on FHN’s first shot, and goals by her teammates including the winner by senior Rosella LoChirco – will go down as the crowning performance of the school’s most successful sports spring ever.
“It was so cool to be involved in,” Stachura said. “A week later, the time it hit me was when I was in San Diego sitting on the beach, talking to a few college coaches, and they had heard about it. (One asked) are you the one who switched your goalie and put a field player in? Yeah, that was me.
“It was just a good thing. Not just for the girls in our program, but for our area in general; it was good for the area.”
The return of past players was doubly meaningful because they'd played a hand in setting up this latest success.
On the field, the Fighting Irish have won six District titles in Stachura's seven seasons with the program. Off the field, they've received academic all-state honors as a team all seven seasons Stachura has been coach, and did so this spring with a grade-point average was 3.71.
The girls soccer team also continued its work this past year with Clarkston SCAMP, with players serving as camp counselors as part of a summer program for children and young adults with special needs. Those memories always become part of the seniors' final good-byes at the team's annual postseason banquet.
“There’s not a girl who doesn’t say it’s the most rewarding thing,” he said. “(They’ve found) it’s really cool to give some of my fun in my life.”
And the Fighting Irish will have more to share after this history-making season.
Past Teams of the Month, 2015-16:
May: Ithaca girls track & field – Report
April: Lake Orion boys lacrosse – Report
March: Hancock ice hockey – Report
February: Petoskey boys skiing – Report
January: Spring Lake boys swimming & diving – Report
December: Saginaw Heritage girls basketball – Report
November: Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard volleyball – Report
October: Benton Harbor football – Report
September: Mason and Okemos boys soccer – Report
PHOTO: (Top) Pontiac Notre Dame Prep players rush to celebrate the game-winning goal of this season's Division 2 Final. (Middle) The Fighting Irish raise their championship trophy.