(Have photos to go with this story? Email pics to Web and Content Editor / Director of News Dan Stickradt at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com and dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com and also list the photo credit as well.)
MICHIGAN SOCCER NETWORK: MSN NEWS: www.michigansoccernetwork.com/msnnews
COURTESY PHOTO / ROMEO ATHLETICS
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
KINGSFORD, Mich. – After not being allowed into the MHSAA state tournament during the 2007-08 through the 2022-23 schools years, Upper Peninsula schools are making the most of their appearances in the boys soccer state-wide tournament.
Kingsford collected its second straight district hardware Saturday afternoon, as the state-ranked and the host Flivvers downed visiting Grayling 4-1 to for the Division 3 district crown to advance to the regional semifinals.
After missing the district semifinals, senior forward/midfielder Jaxon Buckley scored his 39th and 40th goals of the campaign – extending his single-season school record – and fourth-ranked Kingsford never trailed the formerly state-ranked and honorable mention Vikings in knocking them out in the district finals for second straight year.
The Flivvers defeated Grayling 5-1 last season in the district finals clash last season.
The two teams played to a scoreless stalemate in the first half before combining for five goals over the final 40 minutes of play.
Buckley, who has scored in 17 matches that he has played in this season and 27 straight matches dating back to the later half of the 2023 regular season, gave Kingsford a 1-0 advantage when he scored his 39th tally of the season of a long serve from senior back Ben Fornetti with just 32 minutes to play. Buckley missed the district semifinals because he picked up two yellow cards in the previous game.
Jackson Marshall tied the game for the Vikings with an unassisted goal with 22 minutes remaining.
Kingsford responded with tallies from senior midfielder Gavin Laydon, sophomore midfielder Jett Buckley and then Jaxon Buckley to help the Flivvers pull away and knock Grayling out of the postseason in the district finals for the second straight season. The Buckley brothers and Fornetti scooped up assists for Kingsford.
Defensively, the Flivvers back line shut down Grayling’s high-powered offense except for conceding one second-half goal.
Sophomore Colin Michaud, the third-string goalkeeper for Kingsford who has not played in goal in a varsity game, gained his first win between the pipes.
The Flivvers moved to 16-1-1 on the season, the third straight year they have eclipsed 15 wins, and advance to the regional semifinals Oct. 22 against first-time district champion Montague at Gaylord High School.
Kingsford has outscored the opposition 85-13 this season with 10 shutouts and played five other games where the defense conceded just one goal.
Grayling finishes its best-ever season at 18-4-0.
Marquette also captured its second straight district crown Saturday and third overall dating back to the 1990s with a 6-0 victory over Petoskey to give the Upper Peninsula two schools in the regional semifinals.
MARQUETTE 6, PETOSKEY 0: Marquette had to go to a penalty kick shootout last season to knock off Petoskey 2-1 in the Division 2 district finals.
This time around, the recently-renamed Sentinels cruised to this shutout victory over Petoskey to win their second straight MHSAA district championship at Kaufman Soccer Stadium.
It marked the second overall in district championships in Division 2 for Marquette, while the school also won a district trophy in Division 1 back in 1999. That district trophy in 1999 is believed to be the first district title earned by an Upper Peninsula school in boys soccer and that came 25 years ago to the month.
Marquette, which has now outscored the opposition 92-21 this season and has been every bit of an offensive juggernaut, had a multitude of players involved in the scoring act. The Sentinels entered the postseason listed as honorable mention in the MIHSSCA rankings.
Charlie Hodrey scored early in the first half which proved to be the game-winner when he finished off a pass by Indigo Catalano. But the Sentinels (17-3-2) were clearly not done on this day.
Senior midfielder Kaleb Chipelewski, an All-State Honorable Mention selection last season, finished with two goals and assist in the rout. Seth Sandstrom added a goal and an assist, Oscar Hill and Henry Wood scored single goals, Catalano drew two assists and Jack Sysko also collected a helper in the win for Marquette.
Senior goalkeeper Edan Hautamaki notched six saves to earn his second straight postseason shutout, his third straight clean sheet and 11th shutout overall on the season in 22 games. Catalano anchored the defense for the Sentinels.
Marquette will head south to Gaylord High School on Oct. 22 to face Division 2 top-ranked and undefeated Fruitport in the regional semifinals for the second straight year. Fruitport ousted Marquette 2-0 in last year’s regional semifinals clash.
Way back in 1999, Marquette dropped its other regional semifinals game to Flint Carman-Ainsworth (2-1), while Carman-Ainsworth was knocked out by eventual Division 1 state champion Rochester Adams (3-0) in the regional finals that season.
UPPER PENINSULA SCHOOLS THAT HAVE CAPTURED MHSAA DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS IN BOYS SOCCER:
Cooks Big Bay De Noc – 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005
Kingsford – 2023, 2024
Marquette – 1999, 2023, 2024
Beaver Island – 2006
Grand Marais-Burt Township – 2000
Mackinac Island – 2002
Gwinn – None
Manistique – None
Sault Ste. Marie-Rudyard Unified – None
Iron Mountain-Norway Unified – None
Chassell Copper Country Christian – None
Negaunee Unified (Negaunee, Ishpeming, Ishpeming Westwood) – None
Ironwood-Bessemer-Wakefield-Marenisco – None
Escanaba-Gladstone Bayside Unified – None
Munising Baptist – None
Calumet Copper Country Strykers – None
Hannahville Nah Tah Wahsh-Bark River Harris Unified – None
Brimley Ojibwe Charter – None
Houghton – None
Paradise-Whitefish Township – None
NOTE – Boys soccer teams first began to pop up on the radar in the Upper Peninsula in the mid-1990s at schools such as Marquette, Sault Ste Marie and Gwinn along with a few other small schools. MHSAA-member schools competed in the MHSAA state tournaments in the 19990s and through the 2006-07 school year when a multi-sport court-order forced boys soccer and girls soccer in the Upper Peninsula out of season, along with several other sports in both the Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula). From 2007-08 through 2022-23 the boys soccer and girls soccer teams in the Upper Peninsula were not allowed to participate in the MHSAA tournament. The court-order regarding soccer teams in the Upper Peninsula was rescinded and in the 2023-24 school year were once again allowed to participate in the state-wide MHSAA tournaments. Only a handful of programs from the U.P. have won district championships and only one school previously, Division 4 Beaver Island, had ever advanced to the regional finals and that was back in 2006 just months before the court order affected the soccer programs. Several soccer programs in the U.P. have added or dropped soccer over the years, while two programs (Escanaba-Gladstone Bayside Unified and Negaunee Unified) are still listed as varsity club teams and not eligible yet for postseason competition. Chassell Copper Country Christian was a member of the MHSAA briefly in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but since then does not participate in sports under the umbrella of the MHSAA. Munising Baptist has never become an MHSAA member school. Ironwood, which has had a soccer team dating back to the 1990s and became a unified program with Bessemer and Wakefield-Marenisco in later years, dropped the program in 2022 due to low numbers. Over the past 20 years or so, Manistique, Gwinn, Paradise-Whitefish, Calumet and Ironwood have dropped their programs for various and unknown reasons. Grand Marias-Burt Township, which won a district title back in 2000, has not competed in MHSAA state tournaments in any sport in close to 15 school years. Grand Marais-Burt Township, Paradise-Whitefish Township, Mackinac Island and Beaver Islands are four of the top 10 smallest public high schools in the state of Michigan. Brimley Ojibwe Charter has not entered MHSAA tournaments in recent years and has been in operation for less than two decades. A total of 12 district championships in the MHSAA state tournaments have been claimed by one of the above-listed schools with Cooks Big Bay De Noc owning the record with four district championship teams. Marquette is second with three district championships. From 2007-8 through 2022-23, the boys soccer and girls soccer teams had the option to enter a coaches-sponsored one weekend tournament to be claimed as the Upper Peninsula champion. There are two small divisions for boys soccer and one for girls soccer. This year only a handful of varsity, varsity club and junior-varsity teams entered the weekend tournament in early-October.
— Dan Stickradt
— All Rights Reserved, Premier Media Group / Michigan Soccer Network / National Soccer Network
(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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(Have photos to go with this story? Email pics to Web and Content Editor / Director of News Dan Stickradt at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com and dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com and also list photo credit as well.)
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