DAVISON – The Oxford Wildcats were perfect in the shootout and slipped past the Lake Orion Dragons 2-1 (SO) in Thursday’s district final.

“Lake Orion was good tonight, very, very good, and they had a fantastic season. I knew we were going to get their best,” Oxford head coach Adam Bican said. “It’s good just to get out of here with a win.”

The Wildcats made all three of their kicks, and Wildcats goalie Nolan Mauser saved all three Lake Orion kicks to give Oxford the victory.

“Obviously, I was nervous going to pens, but I just stayed confident in my abilities and made some saves,” Mauser said. “I do a decent job of waiting, not letting them fool me or deceive me, and I just read their legs and trust my instincts.”

The game was an up-and-down affair with both teams playing very direct. Oxford broke on top with 14:53 to play in the first half when Ryan Pietsch laid off a ball at the top of the penalty area for Tristan Warthun, who fired a swerving shot through a crowd and just inside the right post for a 1-0 Oxford lead.

Lake Orion tied the game just before halftime when Deniz Redzep played a ball out of midfield that Billy Kappler headed in with 2:36 on the first half clock.

The momentum went back and forth in this one as neither team could maintain control for an extended period of time. The Wildcats ended up with a slight edge in shots, amassing 21 total attempts versus 18 shots for Lake Orion.

“Both teams played really hard. You saw both teams compete. They both had opportunities. It sucks that it had to end that way (penalty kicks), but someone has to advance,” Lake Orion head coach Jason Wise said.

Oxford’s effort was spearheaded by the play of Ryan Clark and Drew Cady, who were both all over the field for the Wildcats.

“While we’re out on the field, while we’re huddling, we talk about all the times we’ve ran bleachers. All the sweat, hard work, tears we’ve done,” Clark said. “It was a great game. It was fun to play them again because we played them in regular season, and we played them last year three times.”

Lake Orion was led by the play of Austin Negri and center backs Will Farmer and Matt Toffolo.

With the win, Oxford (14-1-5) claims its second straight district title and will move on to regionals next week where the Wildcats will face the winner of Friday night’s game between West Bloomfield and Walled Lake Central.

“We’ll probably go take a look at them,” Bican said. “We played West Bloomfield earlier. But it really does not matter what happened in the regular season. You can learn a couple things about people, but when it’s the postseason everybody is up. So we’re looking for another really strong challenge, and we are not looking past that game. I promise you.”

Photo gallery from No. 4 Oxford vs. Lake Orion in boys soccer district championship action

Lake Orion finishes the year 11-4-2 and won the Oakland Activities Association White Division.

“We had a good number of guys coming back, and there is a lot of experience. But I thought the spirit’s up from the guys. They really bought in, and they really gelled as a team. I thought that was what was really nice,” Wise said.

The Dragons will graduate 14 seniors as they move up to play in the OAA Red next year.

“It’s going to be like a whole new roster, or half a whole new roster next year, and a lot of those seniors do put in some solid minutes. So it’s going to be interesting in the Red.”

WATERFORD – The Walled Lake Central Vikings got a hat trick from Gabe Cancellera and punched their ticket to the district finals with a 3-1 win over a gritty group of North Farmington Raiders Tuesday night.

Walled Lake Central owned the ball in the first half. The Vikings filled up the shot chart while holding the Raiders without a shot on goal, and Cancellera opened the scoring with 23:18 to play in the first half when he banged in a rebound to give Walled Lake Central a 1-0 lead.

He added his second goal right before the half when he took a slotted pass from Nolan Kashat, rounded the goalkeeper, and scored into the empty net just before the half.

The Vikings looked good value for their lead at that point, but things would change in the second half.

North Farmington had fielded a cobbled together lineup due to injuries with several players playing out of their usual spots, but as the Raiders got more comfortable in their new positions, the team as a whole started to find their footing. And with that came a few chances of their own.

“They were battling. A lot of guys were banged up,” Raiders head coach Erika Rust said. “I think that took some adjusting to by a lot of the guys playing different positions. So we had to build up some confidence there. But I’m really, really proud of how resilient they were, how they continued getting better as the game went on.”

Led by the play of Deva Sleva and Sullivan Totin, the Raiders came out of halftime a different and better team and immediately set about making it clear that the second half would be a different proposition for the Vikings. North Farmington got on the board thanks to a 30-yard screamer from Totin to cut Central’s lead to 2-1 with more than 30 minutes left on the clock.

The Raiders kept working throughout the half and created a couple of other quality shots that just missed, but ultimately the experienced Vikings were able to readjust due in part to their overall cohesion and time together.

Central capped the scoring late with a beautiful team move punctuated with Marcus Kashat setting up Cancellera for his hat trick by sliding a beautiful cross into space for Cancellera to run onto on the back side for the finish.

“That’s where I think we’ve been really unselfish, and the funny thing about Gabe getting three goals tonight is that he’s our assist leader,” Vikings head coach Joel Sharpe said. “Especially this time of year, next man up, right? Whoever is going to be in those situations, and whatever the team is going to give us, we took advantage of tonight. Right now, it was Gabe’s night, and he finished for us.”

Photo gallery of North Farmington vs. Walled Lake Central in D1 boys soccer district semifinal action

The Vikings (13-3-2) will face top seed West Bloomfield in Friday’s district final at Waterford Mott High School.

“West Bloomfield looks like a good team. They’re the number one seed for a reason in the district, and I think it’s going to be a great game. I look forward to getting our boys ready and getting out and trying to stop their offensive attack. I think it’s going to be two good offenses going at each other, and hopefully, we’ll defend well as a team,” Sharpe said.

The Raiders finish the year 8-10-1.

“Some ups and downs, some growing pains," Rust said. "Even though we had a good number of seniors, overall in terms of guys that played a lot of minutes, we still had a pretty young team. But I think our last few efforts are some of our best ones. I think the guys came together as a team in a lot of key moments. But there is a lot of learning and growth that took place this season, and I look forward to seeing how that pays off next year as well."

WATERFORD – Kinan Abdulrazzak scored all four goals for the Lakers and West Bloomfield rolled to a 4-0 win over the Bloomfield Hills Black Hawks in Tuesday’s district semifinals.

The Lakers dominated the first half, and Abdulrazzak needed just three minutes to get West Bloomfield on the board, bending a 35-yard free kick from the right wing into the left side of the net. Six minutes later, he got on the end of a back post service by Hazem Alosman and tucked in a ball to double the lead before 10 minutes had elapsed.

The Lakers kept Bloomfield Hills pinned up for much of the half, and Abdulrazzak completed his hat trick with 6:13 remaining in the first half to extend West Bloomfield’s lead.

Bloomfield Hills fought back in the second half, turning play around for long stretches to create a handful of good chances to get on the board and potentially get back in the game. But the one thing the Black Hawks could not do was beat West Bloomfield goalie Christian Faraj, who made six saves in the second half to preserve the shutout. Faraj even shut down a penalty shot nine minutes into the second half, diving to his left to turn a ball wide of the post.

“They got the three goals in the first half,” Bloomfield Hills head coach Dougie MacAulay said. “Our plan in the second half was to try and make sure we made it a game and that we didn’t just keep our heads down and concede a lot of goals. I think in the second half we played some really good soccer. We possessed well, and knowing that nine of the 11 guys on the field will be returning next year, we’re very positive.”

Eventually, the Lakers got a bit of control back behind the play of seniors captains Stepahn Khatchadourian and Brandon Fleurissaint, and Abdulrazzak added an exclamation point with 10:34 remaining, tucking in a loose ball for his fourth goal.

“Kenin is an unbelievable player. He scored so many brilliant goals for us during the season. But today, the game plan was to stay compact, to be well organized defensively, also offensively, and we applied everything that was needed for us to win the game,” Lakers head coach Borce Kosteski said.

West Bloomfield (8-6-2) appears to be peaking at the right time. The Lakers played a tough slate of non-league games down the stretch and emerged better for it. West Bloomfield earned the top seed in the district and will face Walled Lake Central on Friday in the district final at Waterford Mott.

Photo gallery of Bloomfield Hills vs. West Bloomfield D1 boys soccer district semifinal

“We know who we are. We know we are very skilled, and we know as a team we always tend to improve and get better game by game, so whoever comes our way, the next game in the finals, we’re just going to approach the same way we approach this game, and we’re just going to try and do our best,” Kosteski said.

Bloomfield Hills finishes an up and down year 4-11-1.

“We’re just positive,” MacAulay said. “We had a very young team this year. It comes in waves with the high school game sometimes. Sometimes we had a grand run with the right maturity and skill levels. This year, we couldn’t quite do that. We had a lot of skiill but not the maturity, and next year it will be a whole different page. So we look forward to opening that chapter and getting on with it again next year.”

ROYAL OAK – Troy got a pair of goals from Graham Bauman and dispatched Birmingham Seaholm 2-0 in Monday’s district semifinals.

Bauman opened the scoring midway through the first half when he stole the ball from a defender and picked the top corner from about 20 yards out, giving Troy a 1-0 lead with 19:24 to play in the opening half.

“I think coming into it, we knew in any game you have to start fast, especially the first 10, 20 minutes of games,” Troy head coach Adam Spinks said. “If you can control the first half of the first half, and if you can get an early goal, then that settles your team down perfectly. And that’s what we did.”

Bauman got his second goal right after halftime. Cole Cusmano launched a long throw into the penalty area, which Seaholm was only partially able to clear. Bauman pounced on the loose ball and ripped it home just 3:24 into the second half.

“Honestly, I just told myself, like, it was non-negotiable (that) I had to work hard the whole game,” Bauman said. “Our team, we’re a family, and all agreed that we’re going to work hard no matter what.”

The Colts dominated possession for much of the game, and they dominated the stat sheet as a result, finishing with a commanding 10-2 edge in shots on goal.

“It was getting numbers into the right areas. We didn’t sustain the ball long enough to do that,” Maples head coach Greg Perkins said.

Even when the Maples pushed players forward late in the game, they struggled to generate offensive chances. Seaholm’s best chance came with 21:40 to play, but Simeon Kolev came up with a nice save at the near post, and the Maples never really threatened again. In all, the tough Troy defense just seemed to be too fast, too well positioned with too high a work rate for the Maples to break down.

“We have full trust in our whole team in defending as a unit,” Troy captain and center defender Nahuel Larroquette said. “So when we put one in, we’re very confident that we can hold out a whole game because we’ve been doing it all season.”

The Colts (13-2) move on to Wednesday’s district final where they will face Berkley. The teams met about three weeks ago in league play with the Colts claiming a 2-1 win.

Photo gallery of Birmingham Seaholm vs. No. 3 Troy boys soccer district semifinal

“They (Berkley) are very well-organized," Spinks said. "Steve (Bears head coach Wloszek) does a very good job with them. So I expect them to be well organized and be very difficult to break down. We’ll do some video tomorrow, and we’ll come up with a good game plan.”

Seaholm finishes the year 12-6-2. The Maples will return seven starters next year.

“We can build on that a little bit, a little bit better than last year. So we obviously want to be a part of that group every year,” Perkins said. “It’s just about getting a little bit mentally stronger and physically stronger, so that’s what we’ve got to figure out and come back with next year."

ROYAL OAK – Berkley turned the tables from last year’s playoffs and edged past Troy Athens 1-0 to reach its fourth district final in the last five years.

The Red Hawks, who entered the night ranked No. 8, defeated the Bears 5-2 at the same stage last season on the way to their D1 state title. They also defeated 12th-ranked Berkley 3-1 when the teams met earlier this year in league play, but not so many goals were needed to decide the rematch.

Instead, Mac Sperl played a through ball to Kai Nielsen, who got behind the defense and slotted home a ball from the top of the box with 9:21 remaining in the first half for the game’s only goal.

Berkley settled in defensively, and while Athens had their share of possession, they struggled to penetrate the Bears’ defensive line and never seriously tested the Berkley goalkeeper despite generating eight total shots in the second half.

“No quality in the final third has been our biggest issue all year,” Athens head coach Kevin McConnell said. “But they fought hard. I’m pretty proud of the way we played in the second half. We came out and did what we were hoping to do. We just didn’t have the quality in the final third to get one past them.”

Overall, Spencer Bajcz made eight saves in a steady performance in net for the Bears.

The Red Hawks’ highest-quality chance came early when they got behind the defense about 12 minutes into the game, and Bajcz had to come up with a big stop just outside of his six-yard box to keep the game scoreless.

A team known for its defensive prowess, Berkley had struggled to contain Athens by conceding a collective eight goals in those aforementioned last pair of meetings, so Monday’s meeting represented a marked turnaround for the Bears. This time, they were laser-focused and didn’t allow the Red Hawks to get loose offensively, slowly squeezing the life out of the Troy Athens attack as the game went on.

“I think we learned to adapt to their style of play,” Nielsen said. “I also think we had a pretty big chip on our shoulder. We were all getting texts and phone calls from the graduated seniors from last year who wanted us to win this game so badly. So we did it for them.”

The Bears (17-4-2) advance to the district final on Wednesday where they will face another tough rematch from earlier in the year when they face Troy.

“We’re fortunate that we play in such a hard league, and when we come into games like this, we’ve seen it 10 times this year,” Bears head coach Steve Wloszek said. “It doesn’t shock us. It’s nothing new to us, and the boys are ready. The next team up is the next team up. Our district is brutal every year, and I think this is six years in a row it’s the highest ranked MPR district out of all 64 in the state.

“It is what it is. We know what we have coming into it, and the boys have expectations every year, even with this district. I give these captains – I give our team a ton of credit today. They came out. They left it on the field, and they gave us an opportunity to be able to fight another day.”

Photo gallery of No. 12 Berkley vs. No. 8 Troy Athens in D1 boys soccer district semifinal action

Troy Athens finishes the year 12-4-2.

“Obviously, coming in where we were at the beginning of the season with what we started with, knowing that we were graduating a huge amount and trying to defend a state championship is hard,” McConnell said. “What I was proud of is, at the beginning of the year, we weren’t young, but we were inexperienced. And I think some of the games early on were too big because the kids hadn’t experienced a bit of OAA atmosphere under the lights at seven o’clock, and I thought we grew into that as the season went. We became more and more experienced, and I think that bodes well.”

Added McConnell, "I’m going to have to take a moment to reflect, but I’m proud of what they did. The guys stepped up. We’ve got some great leaders, and I think we’ve got a great foundation moving forward.”

It has been a fun, fascinating boys soccer season.

A lot of league races went down to the wire with three or even four teams in the title fight, and while many of the traditional blue bloods like OAA Red Champ Troy look strong again, there are a number of other teams having some of their best years in recent memory.

Holly reached 10 wins for the first time since 2010. Milford won the Lakes Valley Championship, giving the Mavericks their first league title since the late 1980s when they were in the Kensington Valley Conference. In fact, from top to bottom, it seems like no one is safe from an upset.  The only remaining unbeaten teams in the county are Milford and Flint Metro League Champion Ortonville Brandon.

All in all, if the regular season is any indication, the playoffs could be even more volatile than usual, even though the MHSAA is seeding the entire district for the first time. There seems to be so little separating the top teams from the middle of the pack, and there are so many good teams in the area that some upsets and some 4 or 5 (or even lower) seeds winning districts almost seems inevitable.  But you might as well throw darts to determine what districts those will be. All in all, it looks to be a very competitive and very fun playoff in store.

Here’s a district-by-district breakdown of the field involving area teams:

DIVISION 1

District 5

Host: Brighton

Teams: Brighton, East Lansing, Hartland, Howell, Lansing Everett, Milford, Okemos

Analysis: This is an interesting district. Milford got the top seed and will face the winner of Hartland and Brighton in the semifinals. There are a lot of solid teams here with so-so records, largely due to their schedule strength. Everett and Howell aren’t winning this, but almost anyone else could. Okemos might have gotten the easier path, despite being the second seed.

Pick: Okemos

District 6

Host: Davison

Teams: Clarkston, Davison, Flushing, Grand Blanc, Lake Orion, Lapeer, Oxford

Analysis: This is always a tough, often underrated district, and this year it might be deeper than ever. Oxford is the top seed and returns 18 players from the team that won this district last year. But Grand Blanc has only one loss – to Rochester Adams. Lake Orion are the OAA White champs, and Clarkston are an OAA Red team that should be a tough out. Davison is the only team here who struggled this year.  The grass field at Davison could make a difference for teams who are not used to it. Really, this is one of those districts where any of about five teams could win it, and in retrospect, you could easily see why.

Pick: Oxford’s experience gets them through again.

District 7

Host: Waterford Mott

Teams: Bloomfield Hills, North Farmington, Walled Lake Central, Walled Lake Northern, Waterford Mott, West Bloomfield, White Lake Lakeland

Analysis: This is another balanced district, though no one had a great year. Still, Walled Lake Central won 12 games. Northern got on a bit of a roll towards the end of the season, including wins over both Walled Lake Central and Waterford Kettering. West Bloomfield has had some of the biggest highs and lows of anyone, including a win over Berkley. The Lakers might be the most battle-tested team in the district and that should pay off here. But this also feels like one of those districts that is ripe for an upset.

Pick: Walled Lake Central

District 8

Host: Northville

Teams: Detroit Catholic Central, Farmington, Livonia Stevenson, Northville, Novi, South Lyon, South Lyon East

Analysis: These are mostly Oakland County teams here. South Lyon were LVC co-champs. And pretty much everyone here was .500 or above. Unbeaten Northville is the top seed here. The KLAA Champs are state title contenders and are the clear favorites here. Detroit Catholic Central are the number two seed, and Livonia Stevenson third.  Still, the Mustangs are ranked second in the state, and while there are teams here capable of hanging around and maybe even pulling an upset, I think that Northville will move on. If the Mustangs are going to get saddled with a loss this year, it won’t be here.

Pick: Northville

District 14

Host: Royal Oak

Teams: Berkley, Birmingham Groves, Birmingham Seaholm, Ferndale, Royal Oak, Southfield Arts & Technology, Troy, Troy Athens

Analysis: This is often the toughest district in the state, and this year looks no different. Troy, Troy Athens, and Berkley are all top teams in the OAA Red and each is ranked in the top 10 in the state. Both Birmingham squads have gotten results against top competition. Royal Oak is easily the best six-seed around. Really, we could have four OAA Red teams in the semis, but it isn’t automatic. Troy has one of the top MPRs in the state and has played a few less games, which makes them more rested. They also might have the highest ceiling of anyone. The first 20 minutes they played against Athens early in the year was the best I’ve seen anyone look all year. Plus, Troy Athens and Berkley are on the opposite side of the bracket and could have to face each other in the semifinals, if things hold.

Pick: Troy

District 15

Host: Rochester

Teams: Rochester, Rochester Adams, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, Sterling Heights Stevenson, Utica, Utica Eisenhower, Utica Ford

Analysis: Another strong district – Adams and Eisenhower are ranked and should be the match up in the final. But everyone here is decent and there are a whole host of potential rivalry matches/rematches. Adams and Eisenhower also played each other once, with the game ending in a scoreless draw. But they’ll have to get there first, and no one is going to be enthused about having to beat a rival a second or even third time in order to make the final.

Pick: Adams – but don’t be surprised if something weird happens here.

 

DIVISION 2

District 27

Host: Ortonville Brandon

Teams: Clio, Flint Kearsley, Goodrich, Marysville, North Branch, Ortonville Brandon, Port Huron, St. Clair

Analysis: The hosts look good value here to win the district. Brandon owns wins over all the other Flint Metro teams, and while it can be tough to beat a team a second time around, the Blackhawks just look better. The other teams here just don’t have the schedule strength that Brandon has. The Blackhawks played a very tough non-conference schedule, and the Flint Metro is the best league of any of the leagues these teams are in. The toughest out for the Blackhawks is likely Goodrich, maybe Kearsley. But those two teams would have to go through each other in the semifinals.

Pick: Ortonville Brandon

District 28

Host: Auburn Hills Avondale

Teams: Auburn Hills Avondale, Birmingham Brother Rice, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, Holly, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Pontiac, Waterford Kettering

Analysis: This is always a deep district. But things are different than usual this year. Cranbrook and St. Mary’s are down a bit, while Holly and Kettering are enjoying their best seasons in at least a decade. Brother Rice is the top seed and look very good value to win. But Kettering has the best goalie, Cranbrook is still dangerous, and in general, this is another district where almost anyone could win it. There almost has to be at least one shocker in this district. Still…

Pick: Brother Rice looks the best overall team.

District 29

Host: Grosse Pointe North

Teams: Center Line, Grosse Pointe North, Madison Heights Lamphere, St. Clair Shores Lake Shore, Warren De La Salle, Warren Fitzgerald, Warren Woods Tower

Analysis: De La Salle are easily the best team here. The Pilots are 14-3-1 against a tough schedule and ranked second in Division 2. Almost everyone else here is under .500. Lamphere has been able to score, but has had trouble keeping the ball out of its net. At some point in the playoffs, you must be able to defend, and I think that time will come sooner than later for the Rams.

Pick: Warren De La Salle

District 30

Host: Melvindale

Teams: Dearborn Heights Annapolis, Detroit Cesar Chavez Academy, Hamtramck, Melvindale, Oak Park, River Rouge, Riverview, Southgate Anderson

Analysis: Melvindale and Cesar Chavez are the top teams here. The only county team here is Oak Park who had a struggle this year. Unfortunately, the Knights do not look long for the tournament having to open against top-seeded Cesar Chavez. Overall, I’ll take the hosts.

Pick: Melvindale

District 31

Host: Chelsea

Teams: Chelsea, Dearborn Divine Child, Garden City, Pinckney, Redford Thurston, Walled Lake Western, Ypsilanti Community

Analysis: Walled Lake Western is the lone county team in this district. The Warriors graduated some people, but they probably should have been better than they were. It’s a new season, though, and a nice playoff run could make the whole season feel better. A late season win over St. Mary’s might indicate a turnaround, and a draw against second seed Dearborn Divine Child shows the potential of the team. Chelsea is the top seed, but perhaps no one has the experience that Divine Child has. The Falcons return 18 players from a team that got to the regional finals last year.

Pick: Divine Child

DIVISION 3

District 45

Host: Clawson

Teams: Clawson, Detroit Country Day, Detroit Frontier International, Hamtramck Oakland International Academy, Hazel Park, Macomb Lutheran North, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep

Analysis: This is another loaded district. Notre Dame Prep is the top ranked team in Division 3 and maintained the top MPR for any team heading into the week. Lutheran North and Country Day have also been ranked either first or second in multiple weeks this year. Frankly, this district final might be tougher than the state final for the teams that get there. Many of the other teams here have at least been decent, but it’s just hard to see anyone else making it out of this district when it could mean going through two of the top three teams in the state just in the district semis and district final.

Pick: Notre Dame Prep

 

DIVISION 4

District 60

Host: Royal Oak Shrine

Teams: Bloomfield Hills Roeper, Madison Heights Bishop Foley, Novi Christian Academy, Royal Oak Shrine, Southfield Christian, Southfield Manoogian, West Bloomfield Frankel Jewish Academy

Analysis: The hosts are ranked second in Division 4 and should roll. Roeper has had a very good year and won the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Blue Division. But they were shelled in their only outing against a Catholic League team (Everest). They will have to be much better to beat Shrine. Most of the other teams here were under .500 and are unlikely to make the final.

Pick: Royal Oak Shrine

District 61

Host: Auburn Hills Oakland Christian

Teams: Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, Capac, Chesterfield Austin Catholic, Kimball New Life Christian, Memphis, New Haven, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest

Analysis: This is an interesting district. Oakland Christian got the top seed. But there was a lot of shuffling in the last week or so. Based on MPR, there isn’t much difference between many of these teams. New Haven got the fourth seed, but a hot streak has them up to second in the latest MPR rankings, though just barely. Lutheran Northwest is probably one of the youngest varsity teams in the state. They have taken their lumps, but the Crusaders play everyone close. Give them a couple years of growth, and they will likely be scary. For now, however, this looks like Oakland Christian’s district to lose as both the top seed and the host.

Pick: Oakland Christian

District 62

Host: Genesee Christian

Teams: Brighton Charyl Stockwell Prep, Brighton Livingston Christian, Burton St. Thomas More Academy, Clarkston Everest Collegiate, Genesee Christian, International Academy of Flint

Analysis: Everest are the top seed here and should cruise. Brighton Livingston Christian are the second seed here, and Everest trounced them 7-0 in late September. It’s just hard to see anyone challenging the Mountaineers here.

Pick: Clarkston Everest Collegiate

HOLLY – Holly and Ortonville played an entertaining 2-2 draw Wednesday night in a game fitting of teams who came into the game occupying the top two spots in the Flint Metro League standings.

The teams went up and down the field most of the night. In the first half, Holly had a little bit better of the chances, and it was the Bronchos who got on the board first when Lincoln Rice stormed down the left side and crossed the ball for Mitchell Price who stabbed at the ball on the back post and found the back of the net with 6:48 remaining in the opening half.

That seemed to give Holly a little momentum, but it didn’t last long. The Blackhawks tied the game up just before halftime on a goal by Connor Teaney.

The second half was similar to the first, though in this case it was the Blackhawks that had a little better of the stat sheet. Brandon also struck first after halftime – this time early when Tristan Groom pounced on a poor clearance and ripped a shot in from 15 yards out to give Brandon the lead with 34:33 remaining. But just as Brandon had a quick answer for Holly in the first half, the Bronchos had a quick comeback against the Blackhawks after halftime. About six minutes after Brandon took the lead, Rice stormed down the left side again. This time, he took the shot himself and found the far side corner for a tying goal.

“We definitely wanted to be clean all 11 games. But hey, that’s soccer sometimes. We came into their house. They wanted to knock the number one guys off the perch, and they played a good game. They brought it to us,” Brandon head coach Shawn Lovelace said. “I’m glad my guys came back from a 1-0 deficit and took the lead. We just didn’t hold on to it.”

The draw ensures Brandon (11-6-1 overall, 10-0-1 Flint Metro League) an unbeaten season in the Flint Metro League and their first league title since 2017. It is also believed to be the first unbeaten season since the league expanded to 12 teams in 2019. The Blackhawks finished with a plus-43 goal ratio and gave up just six goals in 11 league games.

“This year, compared to the other years I’ve been on varsity, we’re just playing a lot better as a team,” tri-captain Brandon Mendoza said. “There is not really anybody on the team that is selfish. I think that helps us a lot.”

“At the end of the day, like Brandon said, we just connect as a team, and that’s just how we got the outcome that we did,” tri-captain Nolan Wood chimed in.

“We’re a great team on and off the field, all buddies in the classroom, outside of the field and on the field,” tri-captain Ben Misener added.

Holly (10-5-3, 6-2-3 Flint Metro) came into the night tied for second, looking for its highest finish in the league since they won the title in 2010.

Photo gallery of Brandon vs. Holly in Flint Metro League boys soccer action

“The nice part about it is we lose some key players, but there are young players who are filling in. Most of my starting roster is sophomores, a couple of juniors fill in there. So next year, we’re going to have a solid group of seniors and a really solid group of juniors to be able to play,” Holly head coach Eric Ransom said. “So I think we have potential to win the league next year if we continue to play the way that we are this year.”

Both teams will now play final tune-ups before starting the playoffs next week. Brandon will start the playoffs at home against Port Huron next Thursday.

Holly also opens districts next Thursday with a home game and will face Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.

“I think our district is winnable for any of the teams in it, and the best part of the state tournament is it is, really, whoever show up to the game,” Ransom said.

FARMINGTON HILLS – The North Farmington Raiders rolled to a 6-1 win over the Ferndale Eagles Monday behind big outings from Filip Cazacu and Mohamed Elewa on Senior Night.

Cazacu helped the Raiders get on the board early when he stormed down the right side and centered a ball for Damon Richmond, who tapped the ball into the open net less than three minutes into the game.

That seemed to set a few themes for the night. The Raiders got the ball down the flanks repeatedly, especially the right side where Cazacu seemed to dominate much of the night.

“Credit to our guys for using the wing,” Raiders head coach Erika Rust said. “When we use that, we can expose other teams, and that opened up the middle of the field for us for better opportunities. As long as they keep playing that way, we should still see some good results the next few games.”

Ferndale fought back with 29:13 to play when the visitors took advantage of a turnover in the Raider backline and Joao Azeugdo pounced on the ball and tied the game.

However, that was the only goal the Eagles could muster despite the fact that they played well in spurts, particularly the last 20 minutes of the first half and again towards the end of the contest.

“Overall, it was an unexpected result,” Ferndale head coach Maisson Fennig said. “But I’m proud of a lot of the effort I did see, especially toward then end of the first half and the end of the half in the second half (when) I thought we did a lot better. We started moving the ball in ways that we needed to. We just didn’t do it soon enough, unfortunately.”

But in between, the Raiders were dominant. Cazacu got the eventual game-winner midway through the first half when he again blazed down the right side and fired a ball home past the charging goalkeeper.

The Raiders then put the game away in the second half with four more goals, all of which Elewa factored in on. Elewa had a second-half hat trick and assisted on the other goal – scored by Cazacu – as both players finished with four-point nights.

The game was a key encounter in the race for the Oakland Activities Association Blue Division title. Both teams came in knowing that they could reel in the title by winning out.

North Farmington (6-8-1 overall, 2-0-1 OAA Blue) has three more league contests in the next seven days after being forced to reschedule some games due to weather earlier in the year. The Raiders will face Oak Park on Tuesday, Southfield A&T on Thursday, then finish with rival Farmington next Monday.

Photo gallery of Ferndale vs. North Farmington in OAA Blue boys soccer action

“Obviously, one game at a time and we’ve just got to keep building on this effort and play good soccer. And I think things can work out in our favor if we play the way that we can play,” Rust said. “I was proud of the guys, and they came together for Senior Night, so hopefully we can keep building on that."

Ferndale (8-5-2, 4-1 OAA Blue) finishes its league season with Tuesday's home game against Farmington. The Eagles can still get at least a piece of the league title if they beat Farmington on Tuesday, though they would need the Falcons to then get at least a draw against North Farmington next week.

“I want to make sure that our team brings their best game for tomorrow because it’s their last home game, and they deserve that regardless,” Fennig said. “It’s been a really good season, and I’m really proud of my boys at all times. Hats off to North Farmington, they had a really good game tonight, and I hope we can take something with us from Farmington tomorrow.”

AUBURN HILLS – Friday night’s football game between Ferndale and Avondale that was suspended in Ferndale was completed Saturday afternoon at Avondale High School before an empty stadium, and the Yellow Jackets emerged with a 21-7 win.

The game had been stopped with 8:27 left in the third quarter and Avondale driving, having just crossed into Ferndale territory. It was stopped and the field cleared amid reports of fighting among the fans. Shortly thereafter, the stands were cleared and eventually, the players and coaches were sent home as well.

Once the game resumed, it didn’t take Avondale long to score. After picking up one more first down, the Yellow Jackets were put in a fourth-and-11 situation where Max Checkley hit Bryan Green II, who broke a tackle near the 20-yard line and raced into the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead.

It was Avondale’s second touchdown of the game on fourth down from the Ferndale 34-yard line.

Avondale had opened the action Friday night by scoring on its opening pair of drives. The Yellow Jackets took a 7-0 lead on an 11-yard touchdown run by Green II with 5:15 remaining in the first quarter. Avondale extended that advantage on its next drive when Checkley found Cooper Voeffray down the left sideline on fourth-and-6, then Voeffray hauled in Checkley’s pass for a 34-yard touchdown to put the Yellow Jackets up 14-0.

Ferndale’s defense, spearheaded by the play of middle linebacker Bryce Ferguson, was able to keep Avondale in check for much of the game, but Avondale came up with a handful of big plays in long yardage situations to either find the end zone or set up a touchdown.

“Literally, it came down to three plays. We gave up two fourth-down touchdowns,” Ferndale head coach Eric Royal said. “And then we gave up a big long screen yesterday in the first half on third-and-25 that set up their first touchdown. Other than that, I thought our defense played extremely well. We had our assignments locked in, and we limited their running game, which, they have a very, very good running attack.”

Ferndale finally got on the board in the second half. The Yellow Jackets had been overcoming mistakes, mostly penalties, in the first half. But Ferndale recovered an Avondale loose ball, and the Eagles needed just four plays to punch in the ball, with Antonio Jones scampering the last five yards for the touchdown, cutting Avondale’s lead in half to 14-7.

But much like on offense, Avondale’s defense came up with big plays when it needed them, including a pair of interceptions – one each by Jacob Manley and Justin Greer-Sykes, with Manley’s interception setting the table for Avondale’s second touchdown.

“Defensively, this season, we have been playing some of the best football of my entire coaching career, so give my defensive coordinator Jason Summerfield correctly for that. He’s got them dialed up and having answers for a whole lot of issues teams are trying to give us,” Avondale head coach Bob Meyer said.

Overall, it was a game that seemed to have everything – wind on Friday, rain on Saturday after the postponement, a delay for an injured official shortly after the game was resumed – as well as a handful of plays that seemed to come out of nowhere to shift momentum.

“There were a lot of firsts, and I can’t say they were all great. But to make it even more difficult, we had a chance to make corrections with our kids, and they had a chance. They came out doing some different things from last night. Twelve hours is a good jump to study for a test. But I’m very pleased, the boys continue undefeated in the (Oakland Activities Association) Gold, and marching toward a Gold championship, which is our first goal,” Meyer said.

Ferndale Police Department released a statement on social media at 10:36 p.m. Friday night that said the department “was alerted to potential threats made on social media. After consulting with school leadership, the decision was made to pause and postpone the game out of an abundance of caution. No actual threat was identified, and with the support of neighboring law enforcement, we ensured everyone left the event safely. We are treating these concerns with the utmost seriousness and will conduct a full investigation to uphold the security of our community.”

“You want your kids to be safe. You don’t want this to happen, so obviously our administration is taking a safety-first approach,” Royal said after Friday night’s postponement.

With a strict policy of no spectators allowed inside the gates at Dick Bye Field for the conclusion, a scattering of less than 10 people who watched from there comprised whatever little outside noise was provided Saturday beyond the players and coaches.

And through it all, both teams persevered.

“My worry was what mental shape the kids were going to show up in, and from the get go they were here to play and did a great job. So I’m very, very proud of them,” Meyer said. “It’s not easy to go away one night and the very next morning to get up and play the home game. It was tough on them (Ferndale) and tough on us, and our kids made the plays when they had to be made. I think that goes a lot with their mental toughness.”

Photo gallery of Ferndale vs. Avondale football

“Other than giving up the one play on fourth down and 11, I thought our boys were really locked in. We came ready to play,” Royal said. “It came down to crucial downs where we’re not  making the plays we need to make, and we’ve got to get better at that.”

Avondale (3-2, 2-0 OAA Gold) takes control of the divisional race with the win. The Yellow Jackets play their first official home game next week when they host Royal Oak in another division game.

The Eagles (3-2, 2-1 OAA Gold) travel to Pontiac next week as they also continue divisional play.

“We’re trying to qualify for the playoffs. The league is still wide-open. Obviously, they took control of first place with this win. But we’ve both got league games left. We’ve got to see where the cards fall, but we’ll regroup for Pontiac next week, and we’ll go from there and try to secure a playoff bid,” Royal said.

NOVI – The Novi Wildcats utilized their retention of the ball and found a late insurance goal to defeat the South Lyon East Cougars 2-0 on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats opened the scoring early when Jackson Shaw fired a cross into the box and Noah Kakish got on the end of it, turned and fired a ball into the net just 5:33 into the game to make it 1-0 Novi.

Novi proceeded to dominate the ball and territory for much of the game. Anchored by the play of Ryan Calanchi, the Wildcats were able to consistently win balls in midfield and recycle possession regularly.

“It’s not necessarily about the quantity of the time that we have the ball but the quality of what we’re doing with it. At the beginning of the season, it was like every other pass was a turnover. A lot of them were unforced turnovers,” Novi head coach Todd Pheiffer said. “That’s one thing we’ve been focused on this week is making the smart, simple pass, not trying to do too much. Let’s just keep the ball and build up the attack. I thought we did a really nice job of keeping possession, building up the attack, and creating some good scoring opportunities for ourselves.”

But after the early goal, the Cougar defense settled in and stubbornly refused to yield any more goals. Orchestrated by Nicolas Gonzalez Moller and William Gallagher, the South Lyon East back end allowed just two shots on goal the entire second half and just six shots on goal for the game as it was able to make the key interventions to keep the Wildcats off the scoreboard again until very late.

“We’ve got a strong back line, and I’ve got to give those guys a lot of credit along with our defensive midfielder back there,” Cougars assistant coach Zachary Hemker said. “We try our best to make sure they are a unit back there and they move as a unit together to help prevent some of those shots being taken, prevent a lot of opportunities on goal.”

Still, while the Cougars were good defensively, they struggled at times to get out of their own end. Eventually, they did start creating some good chances late.

“Defensively we were sound, but then we were kind of skipping lines occasionally. We needed to calm ourselves down a little bit and really possess the ball though the midfield and build our way out of the back,” Hemker said. “I thought once we got the ball moving forward a little bit there were opportunities where we started moving the ball laterally a little bit.”

Novi goalkeepers Christ Miller and Kevin Percy combined on the shutout, and the Wildcats added a late insurance goal when Calanchi played a through ball for Ivan Sazdanovski, who slotted home a shot with 5:26 remaining in the game.

With the win, Novi improves to 3-6-1 overall. The Wildcats face South Lyon on Monday in another non-league contest before hosting Howell on Tuesday in their next league match.

Photo gallery of Novi vs. South Lyon East boys soccer

“We were able to get everybody in the game today, and we had a couple of key kids today out with injury that are some of our starters, so it was good see our bench guys step in,” Pheiffer said. “Once you get into the state tournament, you’re going to be counting on your bench in moments, and I think that’s another positive we got out of today that we know we can count on our bench when we need to.”

South Lyon East (3-3-3 overall) finishes its Lakes Valley Conference regular season on Tuesday when they it hosts Walled Lake Northern.

Novi and South Lyon East were both drawn into the same district and could face each other in the state tournament as well.

FARMINGTON HILLS – The North Farmington Raiders cranked up the running game and methodically ran over the Farmington Falcons 20-7 Friday night in the latest installment of their rivalry.

“It feels amazing,” North Farmington junior quarterback Terrence James said. “This was just an amazing week for me and my team to get together and really play football. It was just a really good experience.”

“It was great to see the whole community out here. All our fans were great. Their fans were great. It’s nice to see the community get excited about it but respond in a good positive way.” Raiders head coach John Herstein said.

James led the way for the Raiders. He helped opened the scoring when he connected on a 34-yard bomb to Lorence Woodley with 3:17 remaining in the first half, launching a ball toward the endzone that Woodley simply outjumped the defender for, staking the Raiders to a 6-0 lead.

Farmington briefly took the lead in the third quarter when Herschel McCormack-Reamer got loose and cut back a fourth down play for a 46-yard touchdown. The Falcons converted the extra point for a 7-6 lead with 9:33 on the clock.

But McCormack-Reamer’s touchdown romp was the last of the offense for the Falcons. Farmington tried three different players at quarterback, however no one could get the offense moving consistently, and the Falcons managed just two first downs the rest of the game against a stingy North Farmington defensive front led by Trey Thomas and Dominic Washington.

“We had a couple different packages this week, and it was just seeing who was playing in the moment. We figured with this environment it was going to be tough,” Falcons head coach Jason Albrecht said. “We wanted to see who had the hot hand, and that’s how we played it out for a bit.”

McCormack-Reamer led the Falcons with 70 yards rushing, most of it coming on just two big runs, including the touchdown. Trenton Darden had 33 yards rushing.

Eventually, the Raiders’ offense started finishing drives. After turning the ball over three times on their first four drives (twice on interceptions, once on downs), the Raiders scored on two of their first three drives in the second half. They cranked up the running game, and the primary beneficiary was James, who finished with a game-high 140 yards and one touchdown rushing. Duke Blanch added 48 yards rushing and scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, finishing off a nine-play drive with a one-yard dive to make it 12-7 and give North Farmington the lead for good.

The Raider offensive line, anchored in the middle by Brendon Rice, Leland Pettway, and Micah Redic, helped North Farmington put the game away late. The Raiders took over with 7:50 to play in the game and marched 72 yards in nine plays, all runs, ending with a 3-yard run from James.

“The offensive line did a fantastic job. They should really proud of themselves. They responded, and really they’ve improved since Week 1. We always talk about getting better each week,” Herstein said.

Defensively, the Falcons were stout much of the night. Two interceptions from Anthony Bailey helped the Falcons to bend but not break defensively. Farmington allowed just one scoring drive in the first half to stay close. But eventually, the Falcon defense just spent too much time on the field and the Raider offensive line started leaning on them and opening more holes for the runners as the game wore on.

Photo gallery of Farmington vs. North Farmington in OAA Blue football action

The win over their rivals also marks the first victory of the season for the Raiders (1-2 overall, 1-0 OAA Blue). They travel to Bloomfield Hills next week for another divisional game. North Farmington will likely have revenge on its mind as well since it was a triple-overtime loss to the Black Hawks in the final game that kept the Raiders out of the playoffs last year.

Farmington (2-1, 1-1 OAA Blue) returns home to host Troy Athens in another divisional game next week.

“It’s a tough loss for us, and I think it will be a measure of how we respond next week,” Albrecht said. “We have six more opportunities that are given, and then if we take advantage of those opportunities, hopefully we’ll get more opportunities in the playoffs. But next week will be a tell of who we really are.”

FENTON – Dillon Hamilton had two goals and one assist to lead the Fenton Tigers to a 3-1 win over the Holly Bronchos in the latest installment of their Flint Metro League rivalry.

Hamilton scored the game-winner with 13:01 to play in the first half when he settled a ball in the penalty area and ripped it home to break a 1-1 tie.

The teams had traded goals earlier in the half with Carlos Gomez Munoz opening the scoring just over 10 minutes into the game when he took a pass from Hamilton and slotted a ball in transition that found the lower-left corner to give the Tiers a 1-0 lead.

Holly tied the game only 2:33 later when Lincoln Rice slid a ball through for Ryan Nykiel, who was behind the defense and fired the ball in to even the score.

Both teams had plenty of other chances to find the back of the net. Fenton hit two posts in the match, including one just over three minutes into the game. The Bronchos had 12 shots on goal, including a handful of excellent chances.

“We had quite a few opportunities,” Holly coach Eric Ransom said.

But both goalies were very good. Sawyer Miller made 11 saves Fenton, including coming off his line to shut down a breakaway with the score still tied.

Holly keeper Bryce Wager also turned in a fine performance. He made six saves and had a lot to do coming off his line to intervene or to help out his defense against the Fenton pressure.

“Our goalkeeper had a ton of plays coming his way, and he’s played phenomenal this whole season,” Ransom said. “He’s our only guy right now. So it’s really important that he does a good job, and he’s done a brilliant job back there.”

Fenton added a third goal midway through the second half when Hamilton scored off a scramble in the penalty area to make it a two-goal advantage and provide some insurance for the Tigers.

“He (Hamilton) is a strong player. He works hard. He works hard outside of practice and games. He’s a very coachable kid,” Melero said. “He’s just a workhorse for us, and he does everything he can to help the team.”

The game eventually got rather chippy and saw a total of eight yellow cards, including two Holly players who were ejected for multiple cards, leaving the Bronchos to finish the game with just nine players.

“We talked about it before the game. We want the boys to keep their cool, and it’s tough,” Melero said. “We talked about it ahead of time. We want that to be part of our demeanor to stay within ourselves, and for the most part that worked.”

The win is an important one for Fenton, who improves to 3-5-1 overall and evens their league record at 2-2. The Tigers’ league season continues on Wednesday when they host Owosso.

Photo gallery of Holly vs. Fenton boys soccer

“We know we have some work to do,” Melero said. “Tonight was a good game because it gave us some of that confidence. We talked about it in our little huddle at the end. That’s the identity we’ve been searching for this season, and we finally showed it tonight.”

“We broke down. We’re going to work on not doing that in the next game,” Ransom said.

Holly suffers its second straight loss after opening the season on a five-game winning streak. The Bronchos (3-1 FML) will try to get back in the win column on Wednesday when they host Clio.

“The biggest thing we’re going to look for is just getting focused for the next game,” Ransom said. “My main focus is getting another FML win, and we’ll be able to get there,” he added.