TROY, Mich. – Kevin McConnell will always remember his final high school soccer game.
It was a battle of Class A Top 10 teams featuring Troy Athens and Rochester Adams and it came some four decades ago and ended in a shootout.
“You never guess who missed their penalty kick?” offered McConnell of a contest held in October of 1987. “Me! I missed and we later ended up losing that game in a shootout.”
Rochester Adams did end up winning that game 1-0 (4-3 on PKs) and Athens was eliminated in the pre-district round that season some 37 years ago, also ending the prep playing career for McConnell.
Apparently, no one has held that misfortune against McConnell, a longtime Oakland County resident and now 54.
McConnell was recently named the new boys soccer head coach at his alma mater, Troy Athens, replacing coach Todd Heugh, a longtime friend and coaching partner of McConnell over the years. McConnell graduated in 1988 and Heugh 1990, although Heugh coached Troy Athens from the fall of 2011 through 2023 before stepping down back in January of this year to concentrate on being the Troy Athens athletics director. Heugh took over the AD position at Athens last July.
“It’s an honor to go back to Athens and become the head coach for multiple reasons,” said McConnell. “First, I played there back in the early years, and I played for Tim Storch. I was a senior when Todd Heugh was a sophomore and had a chance to coach with Tim Storch and I’ve remained close friends with Tood over the years. I wouldn’t have applied at any other school except Athens, but once Todd stepped down, I was very interested.
“It means a lot to follow Tim Storch and Todd Heugh as head coach,” continued McConnell. “I know all about Athens’ history and what the expectations are and will get to have a chance to keep that tradition moving forward.”
Jason Clark was named the girls soccer coach back in February and led the Red Hawks to a top-15 state ranking for the entire 2024 campaign and a runner-up finish in the Oakland Activities Association Red Division and Division 1 district this past spring.
Athens is the defending Division 1 champions in boys soccer after defeating Brighton 2-1 in double-overtime last November at Grand Ledge High School. The Red Hawks also captured state titles in 1981 (Class A-B, coaches association tournament), 1983 (Class A), 1984 (Class A), 1989 (Class A), 1997 (Division 1), 2019 (Division 1) and 2023 (Division 1), while the Red Hawks also finished as the state runner-up in 1986 and 2016 and reached the Final Four in 1988, 1995 and 1998.
Athens also has a long list of conference (Metro Suburban Activities Association, Oakland Activities Association-Division I and OAA-Red Division) and district championships with several more appearances in the regional semifinals or regional finals dating back to its inaugural team in 1981, the year before the sport became sanctioned by the MHSAA.
“My coaching style might be a little different from Tim Storch or Todd (Heugh), but the expectations will never change,” added McConnell. “We will always have expectations of being a very competitive team that competes for championships.”
McConnell played four seasons of varsity soccer at Athens during the fall seasons of 1984-1987 under the tutelage of Michigan Hall of Fame coach Tim Storch, playing on the state championship team in 1984 and a state runner-up squad in 1986.
McConnell, who is a middle school teacher in the Bloomfield Hills district, coached sub-varsity soccer and was a varsity assistant at Athens from 1997-2000 before stepping away for a few seasons. He also spent a stint as an assistant coach under Barry Brodsky over at Birmingham Brother Rice (2013-2016) during the previous decade and was also on the girls soccer head coach at Bloomfield Hills Lahser (2010-2013) before that school merged with Bloomfield Hills Andover to become Bloomfield Hills High School in the summer of 2013.
McConnell’s son Sean McConnell also played on the state championship team in 2019.
Athens must replace 16 players that graduated in the class of 2024 but welcomes back three starters and 11 players from a team that finished 20-3-2, placed third in a loaded OAA-Red Division, won district and regional championships, reached the Final Four and eventually finished on the top of the pyramid in Division 1.
Athens outscored the opposition 21-9 in the postseason run that featured seven wins and three which reached overtime. The Red Hawks will have to replace about two-thirds of that roster.
“It might sound odd, but taking over a team that lost a lot to graduation may be an advantage because I will get to coach a bunch of new players on varsity and will be able to make some small changes,” said McConnell. “But as I said, the expectations of Athens soccer will never change. We still have a nice core of kids coming back and our JV-A team was very good last year. We’ll still expect to compete every time we step onto the field.”
Boys soccer and fall sports in general in Michigan will begin Aug. 12 with tryouts across the state. Scrimmages can begin on Aug. 17 and official games can begin after Aug. 22.
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