Undefeated Saline Claims 1st Finals Win
June 13, 2015
By Dan Stickradt
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING — Saline helped redefine the term “team soccer” this season.
The Hornets put together one of the most impressive seasons in Class A/Division 1 history, cultivated by a 4-0 blanking of Grand Blanc in the Division 1 Final on Saturday at Michigan State University’s DeMartin Stadium.
Saline finished this spring with a brilliant 0.16 goals-against-average over 25 games with 22 shutouts, the most in Class A/Division 1 history and third-most overall on the MHSAA record list. Hudsonville Unity Christian’s 24 shutouts in 27 games during 2011 is the all-time best.
“Our chemistry is amazing,” said Saline senior goalkeeper Sophia Sweier, a second-team all-state keeper last season and one of Michigan’s top net minders this season. “A lot of us have been playing together for years with (club and high school) and that makes a difference. We are so close.”
The championship was Saline’s first in girls soccer.
“I think it was really at the end of last season when we thought that this could be a special season for us,” said Saline coach Dana Restrick, whose team broke several team and individual school records this spring. “Last year we lost to a nearly-unbeatable team in Northville (in the Regional Final). We played really well in that loss. We had a lot of players coming back this season, and I think that we really got a taste of what it takes to get to that next level.
“A lot of my seniors have played together since they were 7 or something,” continued Restrick. “The chemistry is definitely there. We coach them very specifically on what to do at all times. These girls are so coachable. They take everything that we say and do what we coach them to do in different scenarios. This is something that we have been building for the last couple of years. That we came together and played as a team is what helped us achieve the goal of being state champions.”
Unbeaten Saline, which finished the campaign 22-0-3 and entered the postseason ranked sixth, opened the scoring with 32:41 left in the first half. Senior Danielle Rathfon’s shot rang off the crossbar and goal post and senior Molly O’Sullivan was there to pounce on the rebound from close range.
The Hornets, making their first-ever appearance in an MHSAA Final, pushed the advantage to 2-0 with 30:18 still left in the opening half when junior Allison Luurtsema’s long shot from near the touch line sailed above traffic and deflected off the fingertips of Grand Blanc goalkeeper Amy Puidokas and into the far corner of the goal.
Saline, which outshot Grand Blanc 8-5 over the first 40 minutes, cashed in again with 23:22 remaining in the first half when senior Taylor Mulder redirected a cross from senior Amanda Zylsra and tucked the ball home from three yards out.
Grand Blanc put plenty of pressure on Saline’s bend-but-don’t-break defense in the second half, posting a 6-4 shots edge. But to no avail.
Saline capped the scoring late in the contest when Mulder scored her 43rd goal of the season, a single-season school record, with 1:28 remaining in the contest.
Saline closed its run with nine straight shutouts, including seven during the postseason. The last team to score on the Hornets was Ann Arbor Skyline (in a 5-1 win) in the third-to-last game of the regular season. Saline also gave up a goal to Skyline in mid-April and two goals to Brighton in early April.
“To go down 2-0 was tough. I think the third goal was what really broke our back,” conceded veteran Grand Blanc coach Greg Kehler. “That team gave up only four goals all season, so that was a tough wall to climb. I thought we could put pressure on them and possibly score. But they are a great defensive team. Dana Restrick’s team is great — they are as good as advertised. They are very good in the back, very organized, they possess well and they have a lot of players who can finish.
“Saline defines the principals of defending,” noted Kehler. “They got it all. If they weren’t pressuring the ball, they had someone nearby, a cover defender back there to balance the field for them. That’s an experienced team, very well coached. They are very good. No shame losing to that team.”
The Hornets outscored the opposition 104-4 this season, and the four goals against is tied for third fewest allowed in a single season in MHSAA history. Record-holder Livonia Stevenson gave up one goal during the 1997 campaign en route to the Class A championship.
Defensively, Saline held Grand Blanc’s Annie Walker, one of the frontrunners for Miss Soccer, in check. The Hornets’ organized defensive schemes didn’t allow the Bobcats much breathing room all afternoon, constantly covering to quickly plug holes and frustrate Grand Blanc’s attack.
Saline outshot Grand Blanc 12-10 and was opportunistic by finishing four of the six shots on target.
“Annie Walker is an amazing player, and we knew we had to keep someone near her at all times,” Restrick said. “She’s extremely dangerous. And I think that goes back to our defense, always covering for one another. We always make sure that we don’t give the opposing team much space. And it’s not like we outshot them by much. We were fortunate enough to be able to finish (our chances). We have a lot of girls that can score.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Saline players rush the field to celebrate with teammates their first MHSAA girls soccer title. (Middle) Saline’s Taylor Mulder (1) works to stay ahead of Grand Blanc’s Alexiss Trudeau.
'Where is Spring Lake?' They'll Know Now as Lakers Begin Reign Atop D2
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 15, 2024
EAST LANSING – Ella Andree and Clara Saunders started recording a three-part Tik Tok on the opening day of Spring Lake’s girls soccer season, knowing that in order to film Parts 2 and 3 they would need to advance to, and win, the MHSAA Division 2 Final.
On Saturday, they finished the video.
Spring Lake defeated Bloomfield Hills Marian 1-0 at DeMartin Stadium to avenge a 2021 championship match loss to the Mustangs and claim the first Finals title in school history.
“If we won, we had it ready,” Andree said. “We did win, so I hope it looks good.
“The start of our season was a little rough, we had a lot of ties, and we didn’t really know where we were going to end up. But we pulled it together and figured out what players needed to do what, and to be here is super crazy.”
Andree assisted Aveya Patino on the game’s lone goal, and goalkeeper Jessica Stewart made four saves behind a stout Spring Lake defense to give coach Becky May her first title in her eighth season coaching at her alma mater. That it came on the campus where May played collegiately only made it more sweet.
“Extremely proud of my girls, but just proud of West Michigan, our community and how we’ve been able to step up and really make a name for ourselves in the soccer world,” May said. “I played on this field in college, so as a homecoming for me, here’s why it’s important: When I got announced the first time I started at Michigan State, they announced me from Spring Lake, Michigan, and the girl next to me said, ‘Where in the world is Spring Lake?’ No one heard of anyone outside the sub(urb)s of Detroit. Well, they’ve heard of us now. So I’m very proud.”
The 2021 championship match appearance was Spring Lake’s first, and that ended with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Marian. Andree, Saunders and Stewart were among the players on the field Saturday who had played in that game as freshmen, and getting another shot at the Mustangs certainly added motivation.
“I feel like to replay the team that you originally lost to is always a great feeling,” Saunders said. “It’s just like a second chance. We have gotten a lot better, and I’m just glad that we made it back here. Especially for my senior year. We came out and did what every team wishes to do, is go all the way, and then we won it. I couldn’t be happier or more proud of this team.”
Saturday’s match was tightly contested, with both teams having long stretches of possession but not creating many big scoring chances.
The one that hit the back of the net started when Andree won a ball in the corner and played it across the goal. Marian keeper Dani Mertz was able to get a hand on it, but not all of it, and Patino was there to clean it up, scoring the 29th goal of her freshman season. It was also the first goal Marian (15-4-3) had allowed during the postseason.
“You can’t coach speed, (Patino and Andree are) born with those wheels, and all you have to do as a coach is just put them in the right spot, get them to work together, and they’re just going to be destructive from beginning to end,” May said. “So even when they don’t find the back of the net, they’re putting defenses on their heels and they have to respond to them and react to them. As a result of that, that gives us much more opportunity to possess in the middle of the field. So we put them up top, let them run havoc and then enjoy the benefits of that.”
From there, Spring Lake (17-2-5) stood tall defensively, not allowing the Mustangs to get a great chance to tie the game. With a back three of seniors Ella Rabideau and Brooke Bolthouse and junior Lauren Nicles playing in front of the experienced Stewart, May felt comfortable. Marian, meanwhile, was left frustrated as plenty of second-half possession failed to result in many opportunities.
“They defended with five,” Marian coach Danny Price said. “I watched the Midland game where they played them in the Regional Final, and both of their outside backs were flying forward and they gave us a ton of space. In the first half, they did the same thing. After they scored their goal, they dropped their outside backs really deep and defended with five, which is what we’ve done in the postseason as well. I’ve got to give them props for that, they defended quite resolutely.”
Price was in his first season at Marian, and took over a young squad, as the Mustangs graduate a strong, but small (four) senior class.
“We’ll be back,” he said. “We’ve got a young squad, and we’ve got tons of freshmen coming in; we’ll just reload. We’ll be back here again.”
PHOTOS (Top) Spring Lake keeper Jessica Stewart, in green, goes high to get a hand on the ball Saturday at DeMartin Stadium. (Middle) Bloomfield Hills Marian’s Clair Dauer (16) and Spring Lake’s Elaina Furton work for possession. (Below) Spring Lake players begin their celebration.