(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
BUSINESS LINE: (248) 525-2349
CELL PHONE: (248) 884-1051
TW/X: @msn_stickradt @LocalSportsFans @MiSoccerNetwork
WATERFORD, Mich. – It took over four decades – or in more detailed terms, 43 seasons – but West Bloomfield can finally call itself a district champion in the sport of boys soccer.
The unranked Lakers put the finishing touches on snaring the trophy Friday night with a 4-0 shutout of Walled Lake Central in the Division 1 district finals at Waterford Mott.
That is a trophy that had eluded the program since the early days of the Ronald Regan presidency and when Pac-Man and the Rubix Cube were all the rave.
Simply put, West Bloomfield added boys soccer back in 1982, also the first season that the MHSAA adopted the sport for postseason play but had always run into a more powerful buzzsaw in talent-rich Oakland County.
Year after year after year and … well … after year. The Lakers could not find postseason success until now.
“We finally did it,” beamed fourth-year West Bloomfield coach Borce Kosteski. “Last year we got to the finals and lost. But not this time. We’ve been changing the culture here and I think this year everybody has stepped up and did their part. We’ve been building up or program the last couple of years and our goal this season was to win the district championship, and we were able to do that.”
For just the first time, the Lakers competed in back-to-back district finals matches, losing in the finals last season to Bloomfield Hills (2-0).
This time, West Bloomfield would not be denied.
Senior forward and All-State Dream Team candidate Kinan Abdulrazzak scored three more goals, extending his single-season school record and Oakland County-leading tally to 38 goals on the season.
Arnav Kamath scored the other goal for West Bloomfield, which has an 11-3 scoring edge over the team’s last four games and posted back-to-back 4-0 victories in the postseason.
“Kinan’s one of the best players in the state. I don’t know how many players have had the kind of year that he has had,” noted Kosteski. “He’s been incredible this season. He’s been our leader and most teams we’ve played can’t stop him.”
West Bloomfield (9-6-2) will face seventh-ranked Oxford (14-1-5) at 5 p.m. at Novi Meadows Soccer Stadium, which is off-site of Novi High School and next to an elementary school and administration building in Novi. Unranked Okemos (8-8-4) and Novi Detroit Catholic Central (9-6-3) face off in the second game around 7 p.m.
Senior Stephan Khachdourian and juniors Arnav Kamath, Krzysztof Balajewicz and Emilio Kamoo aided the defensive effort for West Bloomfield, which picked up two consecutive shutouts in district play and three overall this season. The Lakers have now outscored their opposition 51-33 but have shored up the defense in recent weeks by conceding just three goals in their last four matches.
Senior Christian Faraj recorded six saves for his second straight shutout and third overall on the season. With the 51 goals scored this season, the Lakers have the highest team output in terms of goals scored in several years. Defensively, the back-to-back shutouts have lowered the team goals-against-average down to 1.83 as the team has improved substantially on the defensive side of the ball. Faraj also saved a penalty kick in the district semifinals win over Bloomfield Hills that also ended up 4-0.
Abdulrazzak has scored 38 of his team’s 51 goals on the season, or 74.6 percent of the goals have come from the foot of the talented striker and NCAA Division I recruit. Senior midfielder Brandon Fleurissaint has also been a sparkplug this season in terms of assists and some clutch goals, and provided two assists in the district title-clinching win.
Walled Lake Central, which finished third in the final Lakes Valley Conference standings and as the district runner-up, finishes the season 14-4-2.
“Walled Lake Central is a very good team. They have some really nice players that we had to (mark),” said Kosteski. “It was a really tight game for around 20 minutes or so and then we scored and opened it up a bit. But they were still very dangerous. Our defense played really well in this game.”
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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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