Avondale-Andover semifinal match has an all-OAA feel
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
AUBURN HILLS — This season there will truly be a new state champion in the Division 2 boys soccer tournament.
Three of the four schools that are in the Final Four have never reached this point, having captured their first-ever regional crowns last weekend. A fourth member of the quartet has reached the semifinals twice before but has never played in a state final.
None of them have.
When Bloomfield Hills Andover and Auburn Hills Avondale square off at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Avondale and Spring Lake and Mattawan face off at 6 p.m. at Plainwell, it features four quality programs that have not been fortunate enough to play on the season’s final day.
In fact, Spring Lake made runs to the Class B state semifinals in 1990 and 1991, but that was before any of the current high school players in Michigan were even born. Both of those years Spring Lake was knocked out by Stevensville-Lakeshore. Avondale and Mattawan had lost in the regional finals at least one time apiece while Andover had never advanced to the regionals until this season.
“It’s very exciting,” admitted Geoff Parkinson, Andover’s head coach since 1999. “For a lot of us, we’ve always been in some very tough districts and never were able to make a run. It’s nice to see that someone new is going to win it this season.”
NEW GROUND: Auburn Hills Avondale's Skyler Russ is part of a fine defensive unit that has allowed only 28 goals in 23 games with nine shutouts for the Yellowjackets, who are pioneering new territory with its first state semifinals appearance Wednesday night. File Photo | Dan Stickradt
Spring Lake is ranked second and Mattawan eighth in the one west side semifinal match. Both Andover and Avondale were ranked earlier in the season, but brutally tough league and non-league schedules created a couple of losses and ties and the OAA White Division duo was dropped from the rankings.
Avondale and Andover still finished tied for second in the OAA White Division, meaning the 25-school OAA will have at least one school in the state finals on Saturday. Troy is still alive in the D-1 tournament, facing grand Haven Wednesday in the state semifinals.
“The thing about our gamed is if we lose, then we know we lost to a classy program and a classy group of coaches,” offered Avondale coach Dave Muczynski, who has coached the Yellowjackets since 1994. “I really want to win for this group of kids. They are the (most pleasurable) group that I have coached. (They are) just a bunch of class kids.”
Avondale and Andover split in the regular season, where they both finished second behind Division Farmington in the OAA-White. Avondale won the first match 3-1 back in late August, while Avondale defeated Andover, 4-1, in early October.
Avondale made multiple lineup changes shortly after their loss to Andover and have gone 14-2-1 since then, while Andover was missing three players in their loss to the Yellowjackets.
The two rivals do have a long history of one-goal games going back to the 1990s.
To reach this point, Avondale (16-5-2) has knocked off previously unbeaten and fourth-ranked Lapeer East, honorable mention Fenton, last year’s state runner-up Bloomfield Hills Lahser, Mt. Pleasant and Ortonville Brandon, which actually finished ahead of Fenton in the Flint Metro League standings. The Yellowjackets have outscored its postseason opposition, 10-3.
Andover (13-6-2), which has long been in the same district with powers such as Lahser, Avondale, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook, Birmingham Seaholm and Birmingham Groves, among others, over the past two-plus decades, has been fortunate enough not to face any ranked teams along its route. The Barons have knocked off Redford Union (8-0), South Lyon East (4-0), Cranbrook (2-1), Trenton (2-0) and St. Clair Shores Lake Shore (2-0) en route to the Final Four. Lake Shore was ranked as high as eighth in September, but was also dropped from the list.
The Barons hold an 18-1 scoring edge in the postseason.
“I always knew if we could be moved out of that district with all of those great teams that we could make a run and it showed this year,” said Parkinson. “We have had a lot of teams ranked over the years but we’re in some really tough districts. We got moved out along with Cranbrook and we able to beat them in the district finals. I felt we had a chance to make a run this year.”
In the first coaches association polls of the year, Andover was ranked fifth and Anondale 10th.Two weeks later, both had dropped down to honorable mention and were removed from the list overall despite playing in the tough OAA-White with some crossover games with schools from the OAA-Red.
Avondale even defeated OAA-Red members Rochester and Rochester Adams, a team that was ranked for half of the season in D-1, and lost to very talented Troy Athens (2-1) team, another side that reached the D-1 regional finals and finished the year on a 14-1-1 run.
Since the inception of the OAA in 1994, Troy, Troy Athens, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Rochester Stoney Creek, Birmingham Seaholm, Birmingham Groves, Farmington, and Bloomfield Hills Lahser have all played in at least one state final game, either in D-1 or D-2. The league had combined for over 25 Final Four appearances in the past 17 school years.
“It seems that just about everyone around us has been to the semis or state finals around here but (Andover and Avondale),” offered Parkinson, whose team won their first district this season despite having a team going back to the late 1970s. “There are so many OAA schools that have won state championships or finished second in the state. I feel that we’re due.”
Avondale defeated Andover 3-2 in a district semifinals last season, while the Yellowjackets tamed the Barons 2-1 in a shootout back in the 2007 district opener.
“We know each other very well, which should make for a great game,” said Muczynski. “I know we are a different team from the beginning of the season. But Geoff will have his team ready. We should have a good crowd, too, playing at home and Andover being just down the road 20 minutes. Our students have followed us and I went to one of Andover’s (tournament) games and they’ve had a nice following. It’s going to make for a great atmosphere.”
Avondale is led offensively by all-state rack sprinter Nathan Chapman, who has 18 goals. The Yellowjackets have had great balance scoring, especially in the postseason, with Erik Koberstein, Danny Swanson, Joe Davison and Mark Shoemaker all providing some scoring punch.
Ben Richter has been sterling in goal, picking up six of the team’s shutouts after moving into the starting lineup in September.
Will Neff has led Andover’s balanced attack as well with 15 goals, with seven coming in the postseason. Jonah Yousif, Nick Charboneau and Greg Mitchum have also been rock solid on the field, with senior goalkeeper Truman Lorick has become the latest in line of quality goalkeepers to play for Andover.
“I think both teams have some dangerous players. There will be no secrets,” offered Muczynski. “Sometimes when it gets late in the tournament, it usually is one play that makes a difference. And I’ve seen enough soccer to know that it isn’t normally the star players that score the game-winning goals. It’s often an unsung hero that steps up in the end.”
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Category: Auburn Hills Avondale, Featured Articles, High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps
