EAST LANSING — Michigan high school soccer games are 80 minutes long, and after 71 minutes had been played in Saturday’s Division 1 state final, it looked like Hudsonville was going to collect the program’s first-ever championship, as it clung to a narrow 1-0 lead.
Rochester Hills Stoney Creek had different plans, however, with senior Lilley Bosley scoring with 8:41 remaining before she put away the game-winner with 1:49 remaining in regulation to earn the school’s second soccer title.
The tying goal came on an incredible pass by teammate Megan Kennedy, when she perfectly floated a pass over the defense that landed right at Bosley’s feet, with only the goalkeeper to beat.
“Most important pass in my life, let’s say,” Kennedy said. “Bos is amazing to finish that. She gets it done.
“We’ve been down in games before so when we got down we knew not to give up. We’ve been in that position two or three times throughout the playoffs. As a team with 13 seniors, we refused to have our last game end like that. We wanted to finish strong and with a win.”
Kennedy added that the team couldn’t get out of districts the prior two years and this year scored in the last minute of regulation over Utica Eisenhower in the first game to move forward.
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“We keep going to the last seconds because in the end, anything can happen. We would not give up.”
Stoney Creek (26-1-1) head coach Bryan Mittelstadt echoed the thought.
“Oh that was beautiful, wasn’t it? Came right down to her feet,” Mittelstadt exclaimed. “Scorers get a lot of the credit, just like quarterbacks, but today was a great team effort, and with a superstar that works well with her team. Doesn’t try to overshadow them, just stays within the game.
“I thought this game was two teams giving everything they’ve got,” he continued. “And it came down to the last 10 minutes and I thought we gave a little more push to it. Obviously, when you have a lead, it’s hard to protect leads. It can be easier to go at it and push. And we pushed.
“I’ve told the kids before if each team gets five shots, sometimes someone gets a little lucky. And I thought today, I think their first goal caught us off guard and our last two were just grit and hard work and that made things happen.”
Husdonville’s goal to take the initial lead came at the 27:56 mark in the first half, a cross-bar rebound shot that senior Raeleigh Woodwyk drilled back into the net when the goalkeeper fell from losing her balance on the extra reach at the first shot.
Hudsonville (19-3-2) had shut out every opponent this postseason. That was, until Bosley scored.
“Now that’s a state final game for you,” Hudsonville coach Holly VanNoord said. “And of course, on our end, definitely a hard one to swallow. But props to Stoney Creek. They’re a phenomenal program. They never gave up and it’s a sweet Cinderella story for them and that’s just all applause to who they are as a team.
“I told the girls that I am so proud of them for being different people walking off the field today than when they came into tryouts. Because this season has been a season of growth and development, not only soccer-wise but as people. And that’s our number one goal, to learn some life lessons along the way.”
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rochester Stoney Creek girls beat Hudsonville, 2-1, in D-1 soccer final
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