D1Champions crowned at Troy Athens

By John K. Schroder

It really must be the year of the rat. River Rats to be more precise.

Ann Arbor Huron (17-2-2) scored three second half goals to pull away and cruise to a 4-0 win over Grosse Pointe North (14-9) in the Division 1 girls soccer high school state championship played on the artificial turf at Troy Athens. It was the school’s first soccer championship as both teams reached the finals for the first time.

The margin of victory was the biggest in D1 since Troy Athens blanked Okemos, 4-0, in 1991.

Huron struck first on a hot, sunny afternoon when Rachel Vandermade drilled a 20 yard free kick over the outstretched arms of North keeper Holly Spencer at 9:41. The closest North would get to drawing even was when Chelsea Detrick’s goal with 12:53 left in the first half off a Paula Kennedy corner kick was waved off by the officials due to an obstruction call at the 6-yard line.

The Rats keeper Taylor Dunn returned to the lineup after leaving last Wednesday’s match with an injury in the first half. She made four saves and earned her 10^th shutout of the season and 14^th for the team.

“I knew I was going to play today. I took a kick to the face and I was a little dehydrated that’s all,” Dunn said smiling as her dad Scott got a huge hug.” It’s a great feeling to win. Grosse Pointe North has two great forwards and we struggled a little bit in the first half, but once my defense figured it out they played great in front of me.”

Olivia Stander was the other forward, besides Detrick, that Dunn referred to. And, it was Stander who just missed with a shot wide right of the goal in the game’s 2^nd minute. Stander had another opportunity stopped early in the second half as North struggled with just three shots in the second half. After falling behind, 4-0, Stander had another shot at goal that beat Dunn with 5:11 to play but it ran out of steam and was booted out by a defender before it rolled across the goal line.

Like the ball running out of steam, it appeared as though the Norsemen were running on empty after an emotional semifinal win over previously unbeaten league rival Utica Eisenhower.

“Maybe getting to the Finals was good enough. I think the nerves might have caught up with us today,” confided North coach Chip Stencel, whose team reached the state semifinals last year. “Today we got behind a little bit and just chased and chased and chased.”

After holding a 10-6 edge in first half shots, the River Rats struck quickly and carried the play with an 18-3 margin in chances in the second half. North’s Spencer made 12 saves in the game.

Helen Steinhauser stunned Spencer and North with her 12^th goal of the campaign just nine seconds after the second half kickoff. Lisa Masini scored her 10^th in the 65^th minute to finish off a beautiful 2-on-1 play inside the box from Nicole Campbell. Meg Boyer scored her 10^th goal unassisted to seal the win with 7:42 left on the north end clock.

Huron moved into the Southeastern Conference this year and captured the league championship to provide a springboard for additional success for Coach Todd Pheiffer and his Rats. Twenty minutes after the final horn, Pheiffer still was wound up like a caged tiger.

“It was a full effort of all the players on the roster to win the state championship. We wanted to get everybody involved. And, except for Caroline Robb—our third string goalie who came up big in the Portage Central (semifinal) game and had plans to leave for France yesterday—all 20 players got in,” said Pheiffer. “We wanted everybody to experience this. We have 11 seniors and this is definitely once in a lifetime experience for them.”