Northville = Perfection in D1 Soccer
June 14, 2014
By Mark Meyer
Special for Second Half
WILLIAMSTON – Good things come in twos for Northville girls soccer, but even better in fours.
Like MHSAA championships in 1984, 2004 and now 2014.
The Mustangs completed their perfect 23-0 march to the Division 1 crown Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 victory over Utica Eisenhower.
As they have all season, the Northville senior forward tandem of Megan Buckingham and Jamie Cheslik provided the scoring punch: Buckingham in the first half with assist from Cheslik, who scored unassisted early in the second half after gaining possession deep in the Eagles’ zone.
The Northville defense – which had held opponents to only four goals all season – was perfect until the 31:58 mark of the second half when Eisenhower junior forward Paige Duda cut the lead in half on a shot from just outside the 18-yard line.
The last eight minutes provided a few tense moments for fifth-year Northville coach Eric Brucker, who was an assistant on the 2004 team.
“I told them at halftime that one goal wasn’t going to win it,” Brucker said. “They’ve been scoring four or five per game throughout the playoffs, so we weren’t expecting a 1-0 game.
“We don’t get scored on often, but we’re mentally tough enough to make sure it didn’t happen again.”
Defensively, the Mustangs relied on midfielders Suzie Redick and Alissa Moore to mark Eisenhower forward Isabella Palazzolo, whom Brucker felt was a player who had to be controlled for Northville to be successful.
“We had different players in different roles, and they stepped up to do what needed to be done,” Brucker said. “Our scouting report showed that Palazzolo would be a factor on the left side, and normally it’s hard to mark someone on the outside mid. But Suzie and Alissa did an outstanding job swapping back and forth, trying to take her out of the play.”
The instant offense of Buckingham (23 goals) and Cheslik (33) – both Division I college recruits – was something that made Eisenhower coach Mehrdad Nekoogar uncomfortable.
“They are both great players and knew that we could not afford to make mistakes against them – they would make us pay,” said Nekoogar, whose team finished the season 18-3-1. “That’s what hurt us, a couple of mistakes.
“But we came back, scored and were in it to the end. I expect us to be back next year because we have almost everyone coming back.”
Northville senior captain Ashley Peper, a stalwart on defense for the Mustangs, said the team was loose and relaxed on the bus ride to the game.
“We were all singing; nobody was nervous,” Peper said. “We were so ready for it. We were pumped.
“We’re a second-half team; we know how to use our speed up front to our advantage. We needed to keep going hard. We knew they had come back before and had the ability to score quickly.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Northville’s Jamie Cheslik leaps over the Utica Eisenhower keeper while controlling the ball during Saturday’s Division 1 Final. (Middle) Eisenhower’s Julia Henning (16) works to move the ball past Northville’s Kyra Dahring.
Streberger Steps Into Larger Leadership Role as GPN Seeks to Reign Again
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
April 26, 2024
GROSSE POINTE — Amelia Streberger is already getting a sneak preview about what her future in soccer could look like one day.
A senior standout for reigning Division 2 champion Grosse Pointe North, Streberger said she has thought about getting into coaching one day, which is good because it seems like she’s gotten a head start on that type of leadership over the past year since the Norsemen claimed what some would argue was an unexpected Finals title last June.
Last year’s head coach, Olivia Dallaire, stepped down during the offseason and a large crop of seniors graduated, leaving a good portion of the roster to be comprised by 13 incoming freshmen.
“I feel like I’ve had to step up as a leader on and off of the field,” Streberger said. “Especially since these freshmen coming in have never played (varsity) soccer before.”
But as far as finding a player to help guide younger ones and ease the program into a coaching transition, you’d be hard pressed to find a better person for the job than Streberger.
After helping North win its first Finals title, Streberger, a midfielder, was named to the all-state Dream Team. She has a future in college soccer, as Streberger signed in November to play next for Detroit Mercy.
Now, she’s back this spring to not only lead a young team that has a first-year coach in Thalu Masindi, but also try and show the state her team can be strong again after last year’s unanticipated run. North had finished fifth in the Macomb Area Conference Red during the regular season with only four wins entering the MHSAA Tournament.
Streberger admitted that even some in the Grosse Pointe community thought it was a “Cinderella” team that defied the odds, but said there was talent on the roster last year that is back for more this spring, including fellow captains Gabby Miller and Alyssa Burney.
“It was through hard work and dedication,” Streberger said of the championship. “It was not through luck or anything.”
When he was interviewing for the vacant head coaching job after Dallaire stepped down, Masindi said one part of the interview process was interacting with the team –and he quickly found Streberger is just as “soccer crazy” as he is as the two got to know one another.
As he has transitioned into the role, Masindi said Streberger has been a rock to rely on.
“She shows ownership with helping out with some of the practices,” he said. “To make sure the intensity is high and she’s demanding more of her players, and also showing the freshmen that this is what you need to do for your four years to show growth.”
While her leadership talents are obvious, Masindi said so is what she brings to the team technically.
“I know when she has the ball at her feet, she’s confident and calm,” he said. “She’s always going to be a threat. When she collects the ball, she knows she is going to be a difference.”
Streberger said she’s been playing soccer “since she could walk,” especially since she has three older siblings who played the game including older brother Jack, who played collegiately at Butler.
Amelia Streberger said there were constant battles among her siblings in the family’s basement, where they would try to score on mini-nets for hours.
“We had so many holes in the wall,” she said. “It was crazy.”
Given what she has accomplished for the North soccer community, all those holes obviously have been worth it.
Streberger still has plenty of games ahead as a player, with more than a month left of her senior season and a college career upcoming. Beyond that she envisions staying involved in the game, and this spring has provided her some valuable insight if coaching is her next soccer calling.
“I’ve definitely thought about it with my club teammates,” she said. “We’ve definitely talked about it, because it’s something we love so much. We’d love to give off what we love and teach younger kids.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Grosse Pointe North's Amelia Streberger (7) works for possession during last season's Division 2 Final. (Middle) Streberger accepts her championship medal.