Soaring Eagles win NLL soccer title
Trending
MACKINAC ISLAND -- The rubber match between Hannahville and Big Bay de Noc ended with Hannahville on the right side of a 2-1 decision in the championship game here Saturday at the Northern Lights League Tournament.
Hannahville got on the board first on a goal by Devin Ortega with 12:15 to go in the first half to put the Soaring Eagles up 1-0.
Hannahville extended the lead with 26:07 to go in the second half as senior M.J. Smith broke the plane of the goal to put the Soaring Eagles up 2-0.
"I knew this game was gonna be a dog fight the whole time,” Hannahville coach Dan Kleikamp said. "We have split games the past two seasons and they are always competitive games so we knew coming in that this was going to be tough. Big Bay has a very good team and either team could have come out on top today."
Big Bay cut the deficit to 2-1 as senior Parker Pederson scored with 16:45 to go in the game. The Black Bears had multiple opportunities in the last 15 minutes of the game but could not come up with the answer.
Big Bay advanced to the championship game by defeating Mackinac Island 5-3 in a shootout. Big Bay scored first as Eli Cooper took the thru ball and went to the net to put the Black Bears up 1-0.
With 9:09 to go in the first half Mackinac Island scored on a goal by Olsztyn Hancock to tie the game at one.
In the second half Big Bay took the lead back at 2-1 with 17:41 to go in the game as Cooper scored his second goal.
The Lakers tied the game at two with 1:19 to go as senior Oliver Knutson scored his first goal.
The game ended up in a shootout as Big Bay scored on the first two shots by Cooper and Ashton Ansell but missed on the third before Pederson netted the fourth shot to put all the pressure on the Lakers and sophomore goalie Finley Morris delivered the biggest save of the season in a big pressure moment.
"The only word you can use to describe Finley is phenomenal," Black Bears coach Alex Ranguette said. "He has been since he came in as an eighth grader and you just can't give the kid enough praise."
Junior Eli Cooper also said that the team was ready to jump on Finley after he made the save as it was a huge moment to help the team move to the championship game.
"I was pretty confident going into the shootout," Morris said. "We have some of the best shooters and I believe I'm a decent goalkeeper so I knew we could get it done."
Hannahville advanced to the championship game as they defeated Munising Baptist 5-1 behind a hat trick by senior M.J. Smith, who scored his first goal to break the 1-1 tie, then scored his second goal to put Hannahville up 3-1 and his third goal gave Hannahville a three goal lead at 4-1.
Big Bay de Noc will host a district game against Mackinac Island today at 4:30pm.