BY DAN STICKRADT
WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR
Twitter: @MiSoccerNetwork
ST CLAIR SHORES, Mich. – It has been said in sports a million times over plus infinity that defense wins championships.
Simon Miners really hopes that is the case this season.
Miners, the St. Clair Shores Lakeview girls soccer coach, has watched his team remain unbeaten and put up incredible numbers all over the pitch over the past 10 weeks. But while his Huskies are an offensive juggernaut, what really impresses him is his team’s defense.
And he hopes that stout defense can help Lakeview claim what could be a rare district championship Thursday.
“I don’t honestly know if we’ve won a district. Maybe one back in the (1990s) or early 2000s, but definitely not since I’ve been here,” said Miners. “I don’t know how long it’s been, but we have a chance.”
With the way Lakeview has played defense this season, that’s a strong possibility.
Entering Thursday’s Division 1 district finals at Sterling Heights Stevenson against Fraser, the Huskies defense has conceded only three goals. Not in one week, not in one month but only three goals allowed the entire season.
The team’s defense has collectively recorded a school record 17 shutouts as part of its incredible run – thus far – and at one time recorded 15 straight wins from April 4 through May 15. Lakeview is one of two Division 1 schools that are unbeaten at this stage of the season – eighth-ranked and Ottawa Kent Conference-Red Division champion Rockford (12-0-5) is the other – and both will play for district titles this week.
Macomb Area Conference-Blue Division champion Lakeview is 17-0-2 overall and having perhaps its best season in school history. The Huskies are not ranked, based on strength of schedule, and not listed as honorable mention in the rankings, but nevertheless have plugged along under the radar and setting school records or extending school marks in every contest.
“What we have been able to do is not easy. It’s a credit to our defense and goalkeeping,” said Miners. “We often get out to early leads which I think kind of takes a little bit (of wind) out of other teams.”
Then there is the offense. Following Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over Macomb Area Conference-Gold Division co-champion Warren Cousino in the district semifinals, the Huskies’ offense has now chalked up 105 goals as a team, another mark that reaches new heights almost every game. For those calculating the math, that’s a 105-3 scoring edge and a plus-102 goals margin. That’s also the equivalent of giving up just one goal every 6.33 games.
“I know those numbers are impressive, but to be honest some of the teams in our league are not that strong and allow us to score a lot of goals on them,” admitted Miners, who spreads the wealth around in terms of multiple individuals scoring goals. “I’m proud of the way we create chances and always work hard out there, but what really impresses me is the defense. We’ve only given up three goals all year. Our defense is very organized, and we take pride in that.”
If Lakeview can maintain it or finish around the current defensive mark, the team goals-against-average of 0.16 is one of the very best ever turned in by a MHSAA member school. During the recent 15-game win streak, 14 of those games resulted in a clean sheet.
“I remember thinking earlier this season that we haven’t given up a goal in a very long time. I said something to the girls at halftime against (Madison Heights) Lamphere and we went all the way down to the last minute and I think they scored a goal with like around 26 seconds left on a cornerkick. I probably shouldn’t have said anything to them,” laughed Miners.
That goal conceded came on May 9 in a 4-1 victory over Lamphere in the second to last league game of the season. The only other goals allowed came in a 2-2 draw to Berkley in the Huskies’ season opener way back on March 21.
Since the 2-2 tie with Berkley over two months ago, Lakeview has gone 17-0-1 with the only other tie coming against Macomb Area Conference-Red Division third-place finisher New Baltimore Anchor Bay on May 16 in a game which ended in a 0-0 draw. Anchor Bay reached the regional finals last season and knocked Lakeview out of the tourney last year in the district finals.
“We’re a much better team now then we were back then and so was Berkley,” noted Miners. “I saw Berkley has had a really good season, too, and took (state-ranked Troy) Athens to penalties the other day and Athens is always good. Our other tie was to Anchor Bay and they are always a strong team.”
The Huskies were a respectable 16-4-1 last season, but only finished second to St. Clair in the MAC-Blue Division and fell short during the Division 1 districts finals, 3-1.
“We’ve hoping we can change that this year and win the district,” added Miners. “But what I’ve told the girls is to keep working hard and don’t let up. You can’t take anyone for granted at this time or your season will be over.”
Lakeview graduated seven players last season, including center midfielder Rianna Shrewsberry who went on to play at NCAA Division I University of Detroit-Mercy. The team did not have any All-State players last year, but several Huskies did earn All-League or All-District honors last season.
Player-wise this season, there are eight seniors on the roster. Led by goalkeeper Autumn Wirick, who has logged most of the minutes between the pipes this season and posted an individual 0.19 goals-against-average, the team simply does not yield a bunch of chances. Wirick is a three-sport standout and also a heavy contributor in girls basketball and girls volleyball.
Junior Addyson Jacquemain, who comes over from the Nationals Academy, anchors the back line from her center back position. Senior Sara Lindeau also plays center back while seniors Eleni Kolizeras and Sophia Gianino play on the outside back positions and are responsible for marking up the opposing team’s top offensive players.
In the midfield, junior Sophia Stanton, who brings some club pedigree over from the Michigan Hawks, plays a holding midfielder position and helps out the back line as well. Sophomore Tessa Brown anchors the midfield as an attacking midfielder and the Huskies send an array of forwards and outside midfielders on the attack.
Senior Jill Ostrowski (M/F) leads the team with 19 goals, while junior Maggie Kinsora (F/M) has 15 goals, senior (F/D) Leia Dayble (F) has 11 goals and senior Jordyn Yezbeck-Hadley (F) has contributed nine goals. Several other players have around 5-8 goals and a multitude of players on the roster have registered double-digits in assists.
“Our starting lineup has done a great job overall and I can sub in a few girls off the bench and we don’t have that much of a drop-off,” offered Miners.
Thanks to a perfect 12-0-0 record in the MAC-Blue Division, the Huskies will receive a promotion up to the MAC-White Division for the 2025 season where they will play better competition.
“It’s something that we really want, even if we’re not as good next year losing our eight seniors,” offered Miners. “That’s okay. We didn’t win the league last year. We were second behind St. Clair so we didn’t get a chance to move up. I think we would have loved to have been up in the (MAC-White) this year with the girls we have right now. But we play who we had to play in our league and got the job done.
“Now we have a chance to win the district,”: continued Miners. “I think that’s been one of their goals all along, winning the league and district this year. We came close last year.”
The defense and offense are in place to do so this time around, and maybe Lakeview can earn some overdo kudos.
(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 of teams or players with Michigan ties, contact Communications Specialist/Web and Content Editor/Director of News Dan Stickradt via email at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com, or call 248-884-1051. 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.)
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