Powers Charges On After Milestone Win
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
May 25, 2018
Art Moody practices what he preaches.
His sermon often reiterates the common sports mantra of taking things one game at a time. So as he was about to finish off win No. 200 as girls soccer coach at Flint Powers Catholic last week, he saw it as it was, a regular-season victory against Flint Carman-Ainsworth.
“I didn’t have any idea,” said Moody, who earned that 200th win May 17. “I didn’t think I would (get to 200) this year. I kind of have a motto and we’ve been going by it for quite a while with the girls, and that’s to make sure they take it one game at a time, and I think that’s kind of how I went, too. We make sure to look at one game, and when the next games comes, if we learn from the game we just had, we can bring it to the next game and we’re going to be successful.”
Success has been a common theme during Moody’s 11-year run at Powers, as he’s compiled a 201-41-20 record in his 11 seasons, which includes a 16-1-3 mark this season for the reigning MHSAA Division 3 champions. The Chargers have won a pair of state titles under Moody (2011 and 2017) and have advanced to five Division 3 Finals.
“When we looked at this year coming up, the question everyone had on their mind was, ‘Can you repeat?’” Moody said. “We had the same thing happen when we won the state championship in 2011 and we came back in 2012 ranked No. 1. It’s kind of funny, because at that time, I got my 100th win, so it’s kind of ironic and history is almost repeating itself with my 200th win following a state championship year. We have little goals, and getting an amount of wins isn’t something I look at as a personal goal. It’s more of a team goal. So it was a surprise, but a good surprise.”
Moody is a New Jersey native who played collegiately at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He coached at Lapeer West High School before taking over the Saginaw Valley State University men’s program in 2006. He’s also coached the Powers boys, and at the club level.
“Definitely my highlight is with my girls at Powers,” he said.
Powers has averaged 18 wins per season since Moody took over in 2008, reaching 20 or more wins on five occasions. Never in Moody’s 11 seasons have the Chargers had a losing record.
The Chargers have won 10 District titles, eight conference titles and seven Regional titles. A run at an 11th District title begins Tuesday at home against Corunna.
Moody took over a successful program that had reached the Finals three times between 2000 and 2007, including the year prior to Moody coming on board. But he’s taken the Chargers to new heights, as the 2011 title was their first.
“(Former coach Tom Anagnost) had those girls getting very competitive, and he had that program kind of getting up there,” Moody said. “Tom definitely introduced Powers soccer into a successful program, so when I got it it was good timing, and I’ve continued his legacy.”
Assistant coach Jeff Tippett, who has been on Moody’s staff all 11 years, said Powers has played mostly attacking soccer under Moody, but that his formations and strategies can change based on personnel, which has made him so successful.
“It’s just Art’s coaching style; he’s got a great coaching style,” Tippett said. “He relies a lot on his assistants. Between myself and Mike Korhonen, he’s very inclusive of us in his gameplan and his coaching philosophy, and I think that helps a lot. Art’s just a good strategist, he can see the game really well, he can read the players really well, and he can put together a lot of things out of what he has to work with.”
Moody also has had plenty of talent to work with, as any successful high school coach would need. One former player, Ally Haran, went to Wake Forest University and was drafted by the Seattle Reign of the National Women’s Soccer League this past January. She’s currently playing professionally in Iceland.
“Once in a while, we do get a couple very, very talented soccer players that can play at the next level, and it’s great to have them come out,” Moody said. “But we also get that other type, we get that great athlete who plays three sports, who plays basketball and then decides to play soccer. They’re not going to play college soccer, but we’re getting them to play at a high level and love the game. That’s more of a delight to me.”
Record-wise, this year’s team is one of Moody’s best, and while he wouldn’t flat out say it’s a team capable of repeating as Division 3 champion, he did say it’s capable of competing at a high level. The Chargers’ lone loss this season came against Grand Blanc, the No. 5 team in Division 1.
He said the team is playing with a target on its back, which is typical for Flint Powers teams in most every sport as the school’s history of athletic success is well known throughout the state. But for Moody’s soccer program, it’s become a little more pronounced, and he’s fine with that.
“They come in the first day of tryouts and that’s the first conversation we have is about expectations and how much heart and determination you have to have to get to that level,” Moody said. “Teams want us pretty bad, and they know if they can beat us, sometimes that’s a successful season for them. It’s something we’ve learned how to deal with. It’s definitely a challenge, and the girls have accepted it. It’s a double-edged sword, because that pressure is definitely something they do have to deal with. But it’s a good problem to have.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Flint Powers Catholic girls soccer coach Art Moody, far left, prepares to accept the Division 3 championship trophy last June. (Middle) Moody confers with one of his players during that title-clinching win over Freeland.
Rematch Goes to Calvin Christian Again
June 14, 2014
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
MASON – A nearly identical repeat Saturday created a three-peat for Grandville Calvin Christian in the MHSAA Division 4 girls soccer championship game at Mason High School.
For the second year in a row, Calvin Christian wiped out a one-goal deficit against Clarkston Everest/Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes and then held off a barrage of shots late in the second half to win the title with a 2-1 victory.
It was the third consecutive year that Calvin Christian defeated the Lakers in the Division 4 championship game.
“It was so similar to last year,” said Calvin Christian coach Tim TerHaar, whose team finished 24-1. “They hit the crossbar late last year, and our keeper came up big.
“I said it last year, and I’ll say it again this year: The margin between winning and losing between two great teams is so small.”
This one was no different. After a scoreless first half, Calvin Christian held a 4-1 lead in shots on goal. The first shot on goal was not taken until the 16th minute.
The scoreless tie was broken in the 50th minute when Clarkston Everest/Waterford Our Lady defenseman Claire Lasceski got the ball in front of the net and beat the Calvin Christian goalkeeper to the left for a goal.
It did little to dampen the confidence of the Squires, and it wasn’t solely because of the same situation from last year’s title game. Calvin Christian trailed in its Semifinal against Muskegon West Michigan Christian on Thursday before rallying for a 3-1 victory.
“We were down in the Semifinal in the pouring rain, and we spoke of our confidence at halftime, knowing that we were still OK,” TerHaar said. “I think that experience on Wednesday night meant a lot to us.
“We haven’t had a lot of close games – the game on Wednesday night was the first time we had to come from behind – and I’ll be honest, I think that helped us at least believe. You preach that you believe when you get down, but until you do it, you don’t know how your team is going to react.”
Ten minutes after Lasceski’s goal, Calvin Christian tied it when sophomore forward Whitney Koets scored on an unusual shot. Lakers goalkeeper Megan Luttinen was drawn out of the net to challenge Koets, who was unable to get off a solid shot. Instead, it trickled past Luttinen and made it to the net.
“I still don’t believe it; it was pretty surreal,” said Koets, whose goal was her 25th of the season. “Hilary Curry did a head past me right into space, and all I thought was to just get something on it, so I did what I did.
“It seemed like it took a long time to get to the net. I thought someone was going to come up and take it out of there.”
The game-tying goal added momentum to Calvin Christian, and just three minutes later, junior midfielder Emily VanVliet scored the go-ahead goal as she shot to the left side of the net from the right side of the box.
“Every coach teaches you to shoot toward the back post, so that is what I did; I shot to the back post looking for that open net,” VanVliet said of her 17th goal of the season.
From there, the remainder of the game was frantic, especially for Squires goalkeeper Allison Keizer, who had the majority of her eight saves in the final 10 minutes.
Clarkston Everest/Waterford Our Lady was relentless in its attack, forcing Keizer to come up with a handful of huge saves, including some off corner kicks, down the stretch.
“It was stressful,” Keizer said. “They were pressing hard, and we were really going at it. We stepped up our game, and we really stuck with them and battled.”
Keizer pointed to one save in particular that she felt was huge.
“I think the one where I had to deflect it out of the end was pretty scary because I made a mistake and started coming out for the ball when I shouldn’t have,” she said. “I ended up backing up trying to fix it, and I ended up being able to fix it.
“It’s scary for me because my heart starts pumping.”
The player who threatened to score the most for the Lakers was senior forward Anna Robb, who came into the game with a team-high 19 goals.
“I wish we had taken more shots earlier in the game, but their keeper did a really good job,” Robb said.
Keizer’s heroics late in the game did not go unnoticed by either coach.
“Allison came up huge to snag a few balls late that could have been goals,” TerHaar said.
First-year Lakers coach Courtney Shegos was pleased with the way her team finished but was disappointed with a few defensive lapses.
“I told the girls to push up, push up, and we got hungry, and their keeper kept them in the game,” Shegos said. “She made a couple of prime saves, so really that was all we could do – to try to put some pressure on them and try to find the net. It could have gone either way.
“We made two mistakes in our coverage, and they capitalized on them. It’s as simple as that.”
The Lakers finished 17-2-1 and will wait until next spring to continue their pursuit of a first MHSAA championship since 2010.
“I wanted it for them, and I wish we could have done it, but I couldn’t have been prouder of the way they played.” Shegos said.
TerHaar praised the play of the Lakers.
“It’s a cruel game, really,” he said. “I don’t think they deserved to lose, based on the game that they played. I’m super-proud of our ability to come back from being down, but boy, they played a great game.”
TerHaar had a more difficult time explaining how it feels to coach in three consecutive championship games.
“It’s hard to put into words, to be honest,” he said. “We’ve been a good program for a long time, but it took us a while to fight through the South Christians and Unity Christians of the world in our Districts.
“I’m proud of our players. At the end of the day, it’s about having a team that, as a coach, you enjoy coaching, and that starts with girls who just enjoy playing and enjoy playing for each other. This team defines that.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Tessa Glashower (3) works to get past Clarkston Everest/Waterford Our Lady’s Anna Robb on Saturday. (Middle) Calvin Christian’s Camie Rietberg takes a big swing as Alex Troy (3) moves in to defend.