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Writer's pictureDan Stickradt

BOYS SOCCER: Unheralded Ortonville Brandon blanks Linden to advance to regional finals; Mason edges Cranbrook in shootout




(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



BY DAN STICKRADT

WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR | DIRECTOR OF NEWS

Michigan Soccer Network | Premier Media Group and affiliates

BUSINESS LINE: (248) 525-2349

CELL PHONE: (248) 884-1051

TW/X: @msn_stickradt @LocalSportsFans @MiSoccerNetwork


GOODRICH, Mich. – Shawn Lovelace will go out and schedule some very tough non-conference opponents during the first few weeks of every season.


The veteran Ortonville Brandon coach is actually quite smart, because one thing is for certain once its tournament time, no one really cares what happened in August. Those final results are actually irrelevant, except that when you schedule tough opponents there could be rewards later in the season.


Brandon’s tough schedule has paid off as the Blackhawks, honorable mention in the Division 2 polls at the start of the state tournament, advanced to the regional finals courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Flint Metro League rival Linden Wednesday at Goodrich High School.


Even though Brandon has seven losses this season, the Blackhawks have played as challenging of a non-conference slate this season as anybody still left in the Division 2 tournament.


“I always go out and schedule tough opponents every year. It will make you a better team,” admitted Lovelace, who is in his 15th season with the Blackhawks. “We’ve went out and scheduled (Pontiac) Notre Dame Prep, (Detroit) Country Day, (Bloomfield Hills) Cranbrook, Berkley, Imlay City, Marquette – you name it. We’ve done that in the past and we’ll keep doing that in the future. We’ll schedule good teams, and I don’t care, necessarily, if we win, lose or draw those non-league games, I want us to play some really good teams because once we get to league play or the state tournament, we’re already battle-tested.”


Brandon is definitely battle-tested this year. The Blackhawks are 16-7-1 overall and finished undefeated in the 12-school Flint Metro League at 10-0-1 to win the title outright. That continues the trend of Brandon finishing in the top half of the league on an annual basis.


In the regional semifinals win over Linden, junior midfielder Nathan Elowsky netted the game’s only goal and the defense took care of the rest. The tally came with 12:24 left in the first half.


Brandon made Linden its fifth straight victim. The Blackhawks have 16 of them. They have outscored the opposition 79-28 this season with 13 shutouts and just three shutouts against Brandon.


The tough schedule has paid off as Brandon will face fifth-ranked Mason, last year’s state runner-up, at 1 p.m. Saturday at Goodrich in the regional finals clash with a chance to advance to the Final Four. The Blackhawks have won their fair share of district and regional titles over the years but have never reached the state title game. They are just two wins away from reaching that feat.


“Mason is another very good team. We’ve seen teams like that – very organized in the back and they have some kids in the midfield and at forward that are dangerous,” noted Lovelace. “But so do we. It should be another great game.”


Senior goalkeeper Ben Misenar has had one fine career for the Blackhawks, earning All-FML honors three straight year. He notched the team’s 13th clean sheet against Linden – Brandon also doubled-up the Eagles 4-2 back on Sept. 11 – and Brandon’s starting unit has been tough to score upon.


Misenar joins Brennen Swix, Curtis Payment and a host of other standout goalkeepers at Brandon over the years and is listed in the top 10 in legions of single-game, season and career statistical categories in terms of the school record books.


“He’s been the top goalkeeper in our league as a sophomore, junior and senior year – the Flint Metro League Goalkeeper of the Year three times,” praised Lovelace. “He’s played great when we need him to. The coaches in our league love him to be able to vote him there three years in a row. I expect him to be somewhere on that All-State list this year. He’s earned that.”


Brandon did reasonably well on the All-Flint Metro League postseason teams the past couple of years, but this year the Blackhawks landed nine players on the postseason list. Misenar was joined on the first-team by seniors Brandon Mendoza (F), Nolan Wood (F) and Connor Tearney (M/D). Senior Colin McKinney (M) and junior Anthony Mirolli (M) made the second-team, while sophomore Tristan Groom (M) earned third-team status. Also on the honorable mention list is junior August Austin (M) and freshman Logan Mendoza (F), who is one of seven freshmen to make the entire list.


Senior Isaac Roberts (D) and juniors Noaln Holloway (D), Dexter Harwell (D) and Colten Fournier (D) have helped out on the back line. Sophomore Nathan Brinker (M), junior Evan Webster (M), freshman Owen Stone (M) and the aforementioned Nathan Elowsky (M) have also been factors on a deep roster where Lovelace often goes 16-17 deep in many games.


“I kind of took the of the underdog role this year, kind of under the radar. I was kind of silent when it came to the rankings and didn’t really push that,” noted Lovelace. “I wanted to fly under the radar as long as possible. I knew we had a lot of quality players back and that we could be really good this year. We have some really good players, some great leaders, a great goalkeeper and we also have good players in the younger grades, too. We have some sophomores and two freshmen that are a part of this.”


Ortonville Brandon has combined 52 wins over the last four seasons (2021-2024), but never had any championships to show for it. The Blackhawks lost in the district finals the previous three seasons, losing to Fenton (3-2) in 2021, Goodrich (1-0) in 2022 and again to Goodrich (3-2,) last season in a game that went to double-overtime. All three of those losses were one-goal games.


Brandon also finished fifth of 12 schools in the flint Metro League in both 2021 and 2022 and landed third last season. This year the Blackhawks springboarded up to the top of the pyramid and backed that up with the team’s first district title with this group of players.


MASON 1, BLOOMFIELD HILLS CRANBROOK KINGSWOOD 0 (2OT, SO): They call him Big Save Mike. His parents just call him Mikey Krysiak.


Either way, the Mason junior netminder has been more of a Mr. Clutch in recent weeks.

Mikey Krysiak made two saves in a penalty kick shootout and had nine stops during 100 minutes of regulation and overtime periods to help lit fifth-ranked Mason to a 1-0 regional semifinals victory over honorable mention Cranbrook Wednesday night at Goodrich High School.


It marks the third time in three weeks that Krysiak and Mason have won a game in a shootout. They defeated DeWitt in both the Captial Area Athletic Conference Gold Tournament championship and again last week in the Division 2 district finals.


In this regional semifinals, the two teams battled to a 0-0 stalemate after 80 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods to set the stage for the game-deciding penalties.


Cranbrook outshot Mason by a narrow 9-8 margin over that span. Andrew Wang made eight saves for Cranbrook (10-6-1).


Alex Palmer, Collin Winters, Brandon Nay and Jacob Ackey converted penalties for Mason in the shootout, as the Bulldogs held a 4-3 edge from the penalty spot to prevail.


—     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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Contact both Broadcast Director Jonathan Turner at 248-525-2083 or jonathan@thepremeiermediagrp.com and Web and Content Editor / Director of News Dan Stickradt at (248) 525-2349 and dstickradt@thepremeiermediagrp.com.

 




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