BY DAN STICKRADT
WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR
Twitter: @MiSoccerNetwork
OVID, Mich. – The railroad disappeared through the town of Ovid back in the mid-1990s. There is a rail trail nowadays from west of Owosso over to the east side of Lowell and spanning several rural towns among that old corridor.
There hasn’t been an extraordinary amount of growth in Ovid or in the neighboring town to the north, Elsie, either, in recent years. Ditto for a lot of the rural farm communities in that flat region north of Lansing.
However, there have been some waves of growth with Ovid-Elsie’s girls soccer program over the last decade-plus. And the Marauders hope to make a fine showing during this year’s Division 3 state tournament following another conference championship this season.
“I like to think that this program has come a long ways,” admitted second-year Ovid-Elsie coach Jerome White. “I’ve only been here for a couple of years. I think (former coach) Craig Thelen really did a nice job here building it up. We get a lot of community support at O-E for athletics in general. We hope we can continue to build up soccer every year.”
Ovid-Elsie added girls soccer some two decades ago and has enjoyed some modest success, mainly at the conference level. Since the 2020 campaign and spring sports in general were shut down due to Covid restriction in Michigan, the Marauders have dominated the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference over the last four seasons by going 34-0-0 in league play with four straight MMAC league titles to boot. After finishing 10-0-0 in 2021, Ovid-Elsie has followed that up with three straight 8-0-0 campaigns in the MMAC.
Ovid-Elsie has really taken care of business this year despite a revolving door of injuries and health issues, outscoring the opposition 41-2 in conference play this season. Overall, the Marauders own a 70-15 scoring edge with 10 shutouts this spring entering the Division 3 state tournament.
Ovid-Elsie, 8-0-0 in conference play and 13-3-2 overall, went through a stretch where over a third of the roster was sidelined with injuries and health problems. That was the case on May 7 where nine players were sidelined but Ovid-Elsie still found a way to register a 1-0 victory over Montrose to clinch the league championship. On May 15, the Marauders blanked Otisville-LakeVille 7-0 to put the finishing touches on a fourth straight unbeaten season in the league despite the rash of injuries.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these girls,” noted White, who grew up in the soccer-crazed communities of Grand Blanc and Okemos. “We were unfortunate to have a bunch of injuries (this season) and we also have one good soccer player who couldn’t compete this year (for undisclosed reasons) and another who suffered an ACL tear. But it’s been the next player up kind of mentality. These girls want to win and do whatever it takes (to win games).”
The Marauders dropped a pair of 2-1 non-league decisions to Division 2 schools DeWitt and Haslett early in the season, while the only other loss was to Division 3 state semifinals from last year, Elk Rapids, as Ovid-Elsie lost that game 6-0 on May 17 despite again having multiple starters and key reserves out of the lineup.
There are several quality soccer players up and down the lineup, some that even play at various levels of club soccer down in the Lansing area. There are also several two- and three-sport athletes on the roster and all have meshed into a winning side with a winning mentality on the pitch.
Senior Ava Bates, a 6-foot-1 basketball standout who has signed with NCAA Division II Northern Michigan University, has been sterling between the pipes the past couple of years. Evalyn Cole, a senior forward and the Conference MVP last season, will play at NAIA Cleary College next season and is amongst the leading goal-scorers and point-getters this season. Senior midfielder Hailee Campbell will play for Albion College this fall and also has earned her fair share of postseason honors in the past, along with Bates and Cole.
Cole and Bates were All-State Honorable Mention last season, while more than a half dozen players on the roster earned either All-District, All-League or All-League Honorable Mention last season and several players will rake in the postseason honors this year.
Sophomores Dannika Campbell and Allison Moore have anchored the backfield from their center back positions this year and has aided the 10 clean sheets and 0.83 team goals-against-average. Sophomore McKenzie Keck (M) and junior Audrianna Lukas (D/M) have also been solid.
Senior Genevive Hills (D) opted not to play as a junior but has come back strong and been a key part of the Marauders’ stingy back line this spring. Sophomore Lillian Bates (F/D), junior lefty Sophia Sweet (M/D) and senior Rian Kirby (D) have added depth and all have garnered plenty of playing time with the revolving door of injuries.
Junior Madison Thorton (M) tore her ACL earlier this season and senior Hailee Palus scored 25 goals and earned All-League honors last season but has missed the entire campaign with health issues. The next player up situation has sparked some of the successful storyline.
Ovid-Elsie (12-3-2) hosts a Division 3 district this season and will entertain Lansing Catholic (6-9-1) in a district semifinals May 29 at 7 p.m. Longtime nemesis Williamston (5-8-5) matches up against Portland (4-8-2) in the first district semifinals at 5 p.m. The district finals are set for 7 pm. on May 31 at Ovid-Elsie.
While Ovid-Elsie posted a 0-0 draw with Williamston back on April 12 in a non-league contest, the Marauders have not enjoyed success against the Hornets when it comes to the district tournament. Last year Ovid-Elsie was knocked out by Williamston in the district finals (5-1), while the same can be said in the 2022 campaign, which resulted in an 8-0 blanking by Williamston in the district finals.
Back in 2021, Ovid-Elsie lost in the district finals to Freeland (4-0).
“We hope we get a chance to see Williamston in the districts again and hopefully this time we can find a way to beat them,” offered White. “We know they graduated a lot, but they are still a very good, young team. If we face them this year, we’ll have to play our best to get them.”
(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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