EAST LANSING — Although the Clarkston Everest Collegiate/Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart girls soccer team fell one step short in its bid to win the MHSAA state championship, just reaching the final game was a huge victory for the program.
Everest/ASH finished just 3-7-1 in the regular season and didn’t win any of their six Catholic League games, but put together an amazing run through the post-season to play for Saturday’s Division 4 title at Michigan State University, where they fell 5-0 to Kalamazoo Christian.
In doing so, Everest/ASH became one of only two teams in state history to play for a championship after finishing the regular season below .500. (Grosse Pointe North, which won the Division 2 title on Friday, was the other.)
“We have a lot of girls who play different sports, and you try to turn them into soccer players in March and hope you get to this spot, which we did,” coach Richard Cross said. “We play in a really tough league, the Catholic League, with (Royal Oak) Shrine, (Grosse Pointe Woods) Liggett, all those teams, and it really prepares us to get to this moment.”
Six of the eight Everest/ASH losses came at the hands of their Catholic League opponents this spring, before the Mountaineers caught fire in their post-season run.
“I think we just became much more cohesive as a team, and we figured out how to play together, and less as individuals as the season went on,” said Morgan McNally, a co-captain and the team’s leading scorer. “By the time the district playoffs came around, we were ready to go and we were more connected than ever.”
“I don’t really know what the flip was, but as soon as we got into districts, we just played with our hearts and we just played like a team. We really came together, and it worked out for us in the end,” said goalkeeper Lilah Chow, another of the team’s co-captains. “Our teams haven’t been here in a while. It’s really crazy that we had this opportunity.”
Everest/ASH won the district championship by defeating Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest 3-2 in a shootout, and 6-0 over Auburn Hills Oakland Christian in the final. They rolled through the regional round with an 8-0 rout of New Haven Merritt Academy and a 2-0 shutout of Saginaw Nouvel.
In the state semi-final played June 14, Erica Walker’s goal midway through the first half enabled the Mountaineers to upset top-ranked Liggett, 1-0 and advance to the state championship game.
However, that became a humbling experience after Kalamazoo Christian’s Taylor Leonard scored the first of her three goals just 2:12 into Saturday’s contest.
“No team wants to play catch-up for the rest of the game, so we wanted to get the first goal,” Chow said. “I think it brought us down a little bit, but we brought the fire back, we had some shots. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get any to go in and they scored on us some more.”
Although Everest/ASH had the ball in Kalamazoo Christian’s end for much of the first half, the Comets hiked the lead to 4-0 as Sophia Nash, Jordyn Bonnema and Taylor scored within a three-minute stretch midway through the first half.
“I do want to give credit to Kalamazoo Christian: they scored when they needed to, and they played a great game,” Cross said. “We had some chances, we had some corner kicks, but we just couldn’t find the back of the net. They’ve been here four or five times (finishing as runner-up in 2017-19 and again last year to Shrine), and they finally got it, so I’m really happy for their program.”
Cross said his players had nothing to be ashamed about.
“Seeing a score of 5-0 is kind of painful, but they were good goals and we had some breakdowns here and there, but I think the girls just believed in themselves, and they’re fighters, and when you come from a small school, if you want to be successful, you’ve got to fight ‘til the very end, right?” he said. “It was a remarkable run we had, and what unites these girls is just their joy and just their love for each other. They’re a very special group, they’re very easy to coach — I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
Despite the loss, McNally said they were grateful for the chance to vie for the title.
“We’re so proud of how far we made it,” she said. “It was certainly a team effort. Everyone on this team put in something to get us here, and we’re so grateful for this opportunity to play at this level against a really strong team.”
Chow, co-captain Alyse Felix, Allison Tong and Caroline Cross (the coach’s daughter) are the team’s only seniors, so the captains feel the experience has rubbed off on the younger players.
“I just hope they remember how it feels just to be on this field and what it’s like to be at the state level,” Chow said, “and I hope they have the drive to keep going and get back here next year.”
“I hope we are able to come back next year and experience this again,” said McNally, a junior. “We know what it feels like now, so next year we’ll be stronger, we’ll be more ready, and we’re just really excited as a whole team.”
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