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MICHIGAN SOCCER NETWORK: MSN NEWS: www.michigansoccernetwork.com/msnnews
Courtesy Photo | Hartford Soccer
BY DAN STICKRADT
WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR | DIRECTOR OF NEWS
Michigan Soccer Network | Premier Media Group and affiliates
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CELL PHONE: (248) 884-1051
TW/X: @msn_stickradt @LocalSportsFans @MiSoccerNetwork
HARTFORD, Mich. – Sure, Hartford has had 12-game win streaks before.
The Huskies have been a competitive boys soccer program for more than 15 years.
Yet, this one is different.
Following Friday’s 2-1 victory over 14th-ranked Fennville, Hartford did indeed extend its win streak to 12 games. But with that victory, the ninth-ranked Huskies claimed their first regional championship in school history out on the soccer pitch.
Hartford started its program in 2007 and through the 2022 season, competed as a Division 4 school. Now, the Huskies are up in their second campaign in Division 3 and the cards finally aligned perfectly.
Even Hartford’s opponent last week, Fennville, had never been beyond the district finals until this year, so in that regional finals matchup – something had to give.
Hartford will take its stellar 20-1-1 overall record into its 6:30 p.m. Division 3 state semifinals match at Cedar Springs High School with quite some momentum. Its opponent is Elk Rapids, which on the other hand is making its 18th trip to the state semifinals – one of the most in that category in state history.
“We finally were able to win the regional title,” noted Kyle Wright, Hartford’s second-year head coach who first joined the coaching staff in 2021 under current principal Nick Blackmer. “We’ve always been competitive. Everything just lined up with the bracket for us and we were able to win it. And Fennville is really good. They actually outplayed us at times, but we found a way to get it done in the end.”
Hartford graduated a strong senior class from last season, including Kaden Smith, who had 50 goals and 20 assists last season and is now gaining valuable minutes at Olivet University southwest of Lansing, Mich. The Huskies did bring back a very solid core this year and the group has again produced some impressive numbers.
“Last year we lost to (Hudsonville) Unity Christian in that regional semifinals (2-1) and they went on to win it. Unity was really strong last year, and they are up in Division 2,” reminded Wright.
Indeed, both Unity Christian and Grand Rapids South Christian, made the jump up enrollment-wise to Division 2 this school year, leaving the door open for programs like Hartford and Fennville, two traditionally-strong southwest Michigan programs who have been banging on the door for more than a decade-plus.
Senior Anthony Mejia (M/F) leads the team with 29 goals and 10 assists, and seniors Melvin Parra (F/M) and Kameron Kuehnle (M) have also been key weapons in the offensive production.
Hartford has outscored its opposition 103-23 this season – that includes a 4.69 goals a game scoring average – while defensively, the Huskies own 10 shutouts and have been shutout just one time this season. The Huskies also have a 1.05 team goals-against-average over 22 games.
Defensively, the Huskies have played fine team defense with a multitude of players gaining minutes along the back line.
Last year, the team scored 116 goals and was a little bit more explosive. But this team seized the opportunity this season and like no other team in program history, has earned its way into the prestigious Division 3 Final Four.
The Huskies have only suffered just one defeat on the year, that coming in the 10th game of the season back on Sept. 14 to Division 1 Portage Northern (2-0) in the semifinals of the Portage Northern Huskies Invitational. Since then, Hartford has a 64-11 scoring advantage with five shutouts during its 12-game streak. In four state tournament games, the Huskies have outscored the opposition 17-3 with one clean sheet but has upped their level of play in recent weeks. Hartford also tied Paw Paw (1-1) back in the third game of the campaign on Aug. 22.
“I think they really wanted it this season,” admitted Wright. “We don’t have that one player that can go out and score 50 goals like last season with Kaden Smith. But we have great balance this year and these kids just want to win.”
Hartford also boasts senior goalkeeper Brody Johnson, who stands 6-foot-5 between the pipes and has annually elevated his game to new heights each year. His freshman season he was the varsity back up to older brother Kaden Johnson but is now a three-year starter and two-time All-State keeper who should again be high on the Division 3 All-State lists this year.
“He’s always been a good keeper, but even between last year and this year he has become even a better goalie,” beamed Wright. “He’s worked really hard on distribution and coming off his line and (patrolling) the box. He’s even better this year and last year he was an All-State goalkeeper.”
Senior Anthony Mejia (M/F) leads the team with 29 goals and 10 assists, while fellow seniors Melvin Parra (F) and Kameron Kuehnle (M) have been solid in the attack this season. Mejia recently suffered a knee injury and played in the two regional games but will sit out the state semifinal because the injury is more severe than originally thought. Parra, the second leading goal scorer also missed one-third of the season but is back and healthy and also putting up quality numbers on the offensive end.
Junior Alex Sorianos-Diaz (M) has also aided the attack, along with freshman Kevin Rios (F/M).
“We have a few guys that we can put the ball into the back of the net. We didn’t score as many goals as last year, but we still have some very good players. We’re actually more balanced,” added Wright. “I think we have 15-16 solid players that we have rotated in our big games this year. We’ve never had the same starting lineup all season., It’s all about matchups and using different guys against different teams based on how they are playing and the matchups of other teams.”
Hartford landed more than its starting lineup on the All-Southwest 10 Conference First Team, Second Team and Honorable Mention lists. They also had 10 players earn All-District or All-District Honorable Mention and seven more player earn at least All-Region honors. The All-State lists will be released publicly about a week after the state championships.
The Huskies have been one of the top Division 3 programs in the state this year and top D-3/D-4 program for most of its existence. They also recently captured another Southwest 10 Conference title. It marked the school’s fifth straight Southwest 10 Conference title – all five years of the league’s existence – and it also marks the Huskies’ 10th straight league title overall.
The first five conference championships in the streak came in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, which Hartford left after the 2019-2020 school year. Since the SAC and Southwest 10 have had a rotating door in terms of how many schools are in each conference or how many schools offer boys soccer in each separate season has varied, the Huskies have yet to lose a league contest during the five seasons of Southwest 10 Conference play.
Hartford has posted a 35-0-1 record in league play over the past five seasons, including 8-0-0 this season. The tie came back in the 2020 campaign.
The last time Hartford lost in the Southwestern Athletic Conference came in the school’s final year in that league, where the Huskies posted a 9-1-0 league record. From 2015-2024, Hartford has only registered one loss and one tie in league play enroute to 10 straight league championships. According to results on MHSAA.com and to MSN’s calculations, Hartford is 70-1-1 in conference games from 2015-2024.
From 2015-2024, Hartford has earned 10 league championships, seven district titles, nine district finals appearances, seven regional semifinals appearances and three trips to the regional finals. The program is 184-29-6 in 10 seasons from 2015 through 2024.
The program has compiled 12 league championships and 10 district titles since its debut varsity season in 2007.
“We’ve always been competitive. I’ve only been here a few years, but we’ve won a bunch of (league and district) championships and the program is less than 20 years old,” added Wright. “We do have a lot of very talented soccer players. We only have around five club players, but we have a lot of kids that play (in men’s leagues) and we have built a nice tradition here.”
HARTFORD IN THE PAST DECADE:
2024: 20-1-1, 8-0-0 SW10 (first) District champs, regional champs
2023: 21-1-1, 8-0-0 SW10 (first) District champs, regional semifinalists
2022: 20-3-0, 4-0-0 SW10 (first) District champs, regional finalists
2021: 21-2-1, 8-0-0 SW10 (first) District champs, regional finalists
2020: 13-3-0, 7-0-1 SW10 (first) District finalists
2019: 19-4-0, 9-1-0 SAC (first) District champs, regional semifinalists
2018: 19-4-0, 10-0-0 SAC (first) District champs, regional semifinalists
2017: 17-5-2, 5-0-0 SAC (first) District champs, regional semifinalists
2016: 14-4-1, 5-0-0 SAC (first) District finalists
2015: 20-2-0, 6-0-0 SAC (first) District champs, regional finalists
Hartford from 2015-2024 – 10 league championships, eight district titles, nine district finals appearances, seven regional semifinals appearances and four trips to the regional finals to go along with the first-ever regional championship last week. The program is 184-29-6 in 10 seasons from 2015 through the regional finals in 2024.
MEET THE HUSKIES:
#0 Brody Johnson
#0 Jose Perales
#3 Kenny Rios
#4 Alex Diaz
#5 Alex Soriano-Diaz
#6 Brady Rice
#8 Aiden McDonald
#9 Aiden Ovalle
#10 Eduardo Zarco
#11 Kameron Kuehnle
#12 Eddie Ramos
#13 Jose Sanchez
#14/7 Jairo Lorenzo-Reyes
#15 Uriel Rivas Quintana
#17 Melvin Parra
#18 Michael Mateo
#19 Anthony Mejia
#20 Ian Vazquez
#21 Alfredo Mejia-Moreno
#22 Isaac Morales
#23 Sergio Ochoa
#27 Edez Arizpe
#28/21 Roman Rodarte
#29 Bryan Rivas
#30 Daniel Soriano
#31 Adrian Martinez
#41 Eathen Kazarian
#98 Christian Soriano
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