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MICHIGAN SOCCER NETWORK: MSN NEWS: www.michigansoccernetwork.com/msnnews
BY DAN STICKRADT
WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR | DIRECTOR OF NEWS
Michigan Soccer Network | Premier Media Group and affiliates
BUSINESS LINE: (248) 525-2349
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TW/X: @msn_stickradt @LocalSportsFans @MiSoccerNetwork
ROYAL OAK, Mich. – There will be a new Division 1 state champion in boys soccer.
Berkley made sure of it.
The 12th-ranked Bears upended defending state champion and eighth-ranked Troy Athens 1-0 Tuesday night at Royal Oak High School in a Division 1 district semifinal to advance to the district finals for the fourth time in five years.
It marked the third straight season that Berkley and Athens faced off in the district semifinal – Berkley won 2-1 in 2022 and Athens exploded for the 5-2 win last season enroute to the D-1 state title.
Athens defeated Berkley 3-1 back on Sept. 5 – the Red Hawks had outscored Berkley 8-3 in the previous two meetings – and the Bears more than remembered those two defeats.
“We know that whoever wins this district will have to earn it,” said Berkley coach Steve Wloszek. “It’s the same thing almost every year that you have to play all of these OAA schools in this district. Last year Athens got us in this game and we were able to come out this time around.
“I have to give my team a ton of credit today. They came out and left it on the field and gave it everything they had to come out on top,” continued Wloszek. “We scored on our best chance of the night and defensively we just frustrated them and kept them from tying this game up.”
Berkley (17-4-2) will face third-ranked and Oakland Activities Association Red Division champion Troy (13-2-0) in the district finals at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the district finals at Royal Oak.
The Bears limited Athens to minimal great scoring chances and capitalized on their best chance in the 31st minute to take the lead. Defensively, Berkley frustrated Athens’ dynamite scoring duo of junior Daniel Kadiu and senior Marc Delikat, making some format changes after the goal to keep the Red Hawks out of rhythm.
“We shut them down defensively because we knew they were a talented team,” noted August Cumming, one of Berkley’s unheralded senior defensemen who have helped the Bears hold a 69-21 scoring edge over 23 games. “They obviously beat us 3-1 earlier this year. We just had to shut them down this time and (that) helped us get on a roll.”
On the game-winning goal, Berkley senior Marc Sperl took a short pass from junior midfielder Brody Cain near midfield and Sperl turned and sent a long pass down the center of the park over to senior forward Kai Nielsen. With plenty of open real estate, Nielsen dribbled forward, beat his mark by cutting to his left before uncorking a left-footed, low-bending shot that sailed just inside the right goal post for the game’s only goal with 9:21 left in the first half. It marked Nielsen’s OAA-Red Division-leading 21st goal of the campaign.
“We knew going into this game that they were going to out-possess us. They are the defending state champs and they were going to go all out. We knew that were weren’t going to beat them by out-possessing them. We tried to capitalize on the mistakes that they made,” noted Nielsen. “We tried to use our speed in our attack and we have some speed at our (wing positions) and I think we hurt them a lot (with our speed).”
With two quality goalkeepers this season and another blue-collar, stingy back line, the Bears registered their 11th shutout of the campaign with senior Spencer Bajcz earning the clean sheet on eight saves. Bajcz made a couple of late quality stops inside the final 15 minutes to keep Athens from tying it up and forcing overtime.
“It was a revenge game for us,” admitted Sperl, who was also a starter on that 2023 team that lost 5-2 to the Red hawks in the district semifinals a year ago. “We also had that loss to them early this season and we really wanted to get them this time.”
Athens (12-4-2) outshot Berkley 13-7 overall in the match with an 8-4 edge with shots on goal. The Red Hawks also held a 4-1 edge off cornerkicks but could not solve Berkely’s stingy defensive front this time around. The Bears, at times, threw some additional defenders onto the back line of defense to thwart an Athens comeback.
Athens and Berkley tied for fourth in a loaded OAA-Red Division this year with the Red Hawks earning the regular season win over the Bears. Not this time around.
“No quality (shots) in the final third. That’s been the issue all season long to be honest with you,” offered first-year Athens coach Kevin McConnell. “But hey 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 enough quality third to get one past them.
“Berkley is well-organized. They are well-coached obviously and we knew getting behind a goal would be a challenge. I think we held it too long at times but all (kudos) to them for playing well in the second half. They executed their game plan real perfectly and I don’t think we did, especially in the first half.”
Athens graduated 16 players from last year’s state title run and only brought back four starters and eight players from that team. McConnell was pleased with the overall results despite the district semifinals exit.
“You always hope to win your last game, but it’s really hard to repeat. I think its only happened four time (in Class A or Division 1) and it’s been a few years since anybody repeated up (in Division 1),” reminded McConnell. “We came a long ways this season from the beginning to end. There were some growing pains early on, but we were a lot more competitive as the season moved along as guys got used to their new roles and we started to play together.”
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(Have a story suggestion for the Premier Media Group and the Michigan Soccer Network regarding club soccer, high school varsity, amateur soccer, collegiate soccer or professional soccer involving teams, players or coaches with Michigan ties, contact Communications Specialist/Web and Content Editor/Director of News Dan Stickradt via email at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com or dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com, or call 248-884-1051 or 248-525-2349. Dan Stickradt is a 31-year veteran of the Michigan Media circles and recently joined the staff full time in March of 2024. Want to schedule a broadcast game or live show, contact PMG/MSN Director of Broadcasting Jonathan Turner for availability and pricing at jonathan@michigansoccernetwork.com and jonathan@thepremiermediagrp.com.)
(MSN will compile a random sampling of game results from around the state each day. To send in results from high school varsity, club, amateur, pre-pro, semi-pro or professional soccer, email all pertinent details to Communications Specialist / Web and Content Editor / Director of News Dan Stickradt at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com and dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com or submit information right on the correct link on the MSN website at https://www.michigansoccernetwork.com/reportascore. Please submit the competing teams, location and date of game, final score, overall and league records, goals, assists, goalkeepers and saves, standout defenders, players of the match, and any other pertinent details of the game. If there are courtesy action photos available, feel free to submit them at the above-listed emails.)
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