Michigan Center Survives in D-3 Soccer Shootout for Regional Win

Members of the Michigan Center High School varsity soccer team celebrate after a 1-0 win over Pontiac Notre Dame Prep during the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 3 regional semifinal at Detroit Country Day High School on Tuesday.

By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports

(October 27, 2021 7:09 AM) Michigan Center High School soccer goalie Michael VanRiper remembers the feeling of losing a tournament game via shootout.

He didn’t want to experience that feeling again.

VanRiper stopped the opponent’s last shot in a shootout giving Michigan Center a 1-0 win over Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 3 regional semifinal on Tuesday.

The win propels the senior-laden Cardinals to the regional final against two-time defending state champions from Grosse Ile. The regional final will be played at Detroit Country Day High School on Thursday beginning at 6 p.m. 

The regional winner advances to the D-3 state semifinal next Wednesday.

VanRiper said the Cardinals lost last year to Grass Lake in the district semifinal and remembers the bad taste it produced.

“I remember how that felt when we lost last year,” VanRiper said. “After four years of being goalie it feels good to go as far as we can as a program.”

The two teams struggled to get shots off as defense was the name of the game on a chilly night near Detroit. Pontiac outshot Michigan Center 5-1 in the first half and 7-2 in the second half, but could not get anything past the Cardinals’ defense. 

“These guys played so hard for 100 minutes,” MCHS Coach Ray Schaife said. “We knew Pontiac was good at possessing the ball so we had to be aggressive out there.”

Neither team scored in the two, 10-minute overtime periods sending the contest into a shootout. When Pontiac missed their first shot, Michigan Center had a leg up on the Fighting Irish. 

Daylen Hinkle, Nikolas Kosmet, Riley Withers and Reid Scaife converted each of their penalty kicks in the shootout.

Up 4-3 in shootout goals, VanRiper knew he had to stop the last Pontiac shot to secure the win.

“He (Pontiac player) tried to look me off and go the other way,” VanRiper said. “I guessed wrong three times … but that one time I got it right.”

Michigan Center improves to 12-1-3 while Grosse Ile is 17-1-1 heading into Thursday’s regional final.