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.
TC West Standout Renews Ties to Titans, Cheers Past Teammates' Gold Pursuit
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
July 16, 2021
Savanna Wojtanowski was made here. She played here. She stayed here — except for stints in Washington, D.C., where international soccer players joined her.
Now she’s back as a high school soccer coach.
While lots of faces familiar to United States and Canadian television viewers and soccer fans are expected at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, some of those players will be personally familiar to Wojtanowski.
Wojtanowski played alongside a handful of current and recent players on the U.S. and Canadian women’s teams after serving as four-year starting goalie for Traverse City West and during a college career that began with two seasons at Ferris State and concluded with her final two at Michigan State in 2016 and 2017. During her time with the Spartans, Wojtanowski spent two offseasons with the reserve team for the Washington Spirit, one of the original eight teams when the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) was formed in 2012.
At West, Wojtanowski was named second team all-conference as a junior and senior, as well as first team all-district, first team all-region and all-state honorable mention her senior season in 2013. West winning the Big North Conference title that spring remains her favorite memory from high school soccer – and she quickly has matched that achievement as a coach, leading West to the BNC championship this past spring in her first season after taking over the program.
Wojtanowski is looking for the U.S. national team to come out with a vengeance after the disappointment of the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. There the U.S. fell to Sweden in a semifinal shootout, which meant failing to reach the gold medal match for the first time since women’s soccer was introduced to the Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta.
Sweden is the U.S.’s opening-game opponent July 21 in Tokyo.
“I believe there is a lot of revenge being chased after the Rio Olympics,” the 25-year-old former keeper said. “I was with the Spirit during Rio, and when the team returned from the Olympics, the sense of disappointment was felt for a long time.
“I believe going into this year's Olympics, we will see a different type of fire displayed from the USWNT.”
Wojtanowski won’t see former Washington Spirit teammate Diana Matheson of Canadian fame and Estelle Johnson of Cameroon playing in Tokyo. Matheson recently announced her retirement after 18 years representing Canada’s national team. Johnson and her teammates lost a playoff with Chile for the last of 16 slots in the Olympics.
Wojtanowski feels fortunate that she had the chance to compete with and against the women trying to claim gold at Tokyo.
“During college I was able to play two years on the Washington Spirit reserves, which opened the door to the pro side of the game,” she said. “I was fortunate enough to be one of two college players training full-time with the pro squad for those two summers.
“Having the opportunity to play alongside some USWNT women and the Canada women was such a great experience.”
Wojtanowski played with current U.S. roster players Crystal Dunn and Kristie Mewis. The current Canadians she played with are Stephanie Labbe and Shelina Zadorsky. Labbe was Canada’s starting goalkeeper in Rio.
Dunn, though, stands out most to Wojtanowski. Dunn was with the Spirit but now plays for Portland. She has 24 goals and 19 assists in 116 appearances for the USWNT as primarily a defender.
“(Dunn) was such a treat to play with …. her humor, attitude, and training mentality is something I will forever remember,” Wojtanowski said. “She was constantly dancing, laughing, and having a great time at training, but when it was time to get serious she would get the job done.”
Wojtanowski also had the tough job of trying to stop U.S. standout Rose Lavelle during Lavelle’s time starring for Wisconsin. The past Badgers standout and now-Washington Spirit midfielder has 14 goals and nine assists in 56 appearances for the U.S.
Wojtanowski began her collegiate career with two seasons at Ferris State University. After transferring to MSU, she played two more seasons and as a junior in 2016 tied the MSU single-game record with 14 saves against then-No. 16 Penn State. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business with a focus on administration and management and a master’s certificate in supply chain management and procurement. She returned home to start the next chapters of life, and she works as a supply chain buyer fulltime along with her guidance of the Titans.
She’s thrilled to be back at her high school alma mater, which she guided to an overall 10-4-1 record this spring, with the Titans eventually falling to Midland Dow in a Division 1 District Final.
“I wanted to give back to the community,” said Wojtanowski, who previously had coached at the club level in Lansing. “West has always had a very special place in my heart ever since graduation.
“When this opportunity presented itself, I knew I had to take the opportunity to be a Titan again,” she continued. “It has been a special experience to coach the program that I grew up with.”
Wojtanowski wants to instill a family-based culture in the Titans program, something she came to know and love while at Michigan State.
“The biggest thing for me is growing them as individuals both on and off the soccer field,” she said.
Wojtanowski believes girls high school and women’s soccer in this country have changed for the better since she played. And, she’s not the least bit surprised by the consistent success of the USWNT.
“The women's game in the US has grown significantly since I started playing soccer in 2000,” Wojtanowski noted. “Our farm systems here in the U.S. along with club, college, and other programs feed a constantly-elite level of players through the USWNT system.”
2020-21 Made in Michigan
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June 28: Michigan's Minor Leaguers Making Up for Lost Season - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Savanna Wojtanowski leads a halftime discussion this spring with her Traverse City West varsity. (Middle) Wojtanowski, second row standing far right in group photo, trained two seasons with the Washington Spirit’s reserves; the Spirit first team included U.S. national teamer Crystal Dunn (left in second photo) and Cameroon national teamer Estelle Johnson (far right). (Below) Wojtanowski makes a save for West against Traverse City Central in 2012. (Top photo by Daisy Kinney, middle courtesy of Savanna Wojtanowski and below courtesy of the Traverse City Record-Eagle.)