Plymouth Christian Academy boys soccer coach Ryan Thomason estimates his team has allowed nine or 10 goals off weird bounces, unfortunate errors and unbelievable occurrences.
Well, the Eagles (14-5-3) are returning to the Division 4 state semifinal for the second time in three seasons thanks to a pair of zany goals they manufactured during this week’s regional tournament.
We’ll talk about Tuesday’s wild goal in a minute, but Thursday’s set the tone for the regional championship against Royal Oak Shrine and ensured them the 2-1 victory over the host Knights.
Only 76 seconds into the match, midfielder Caedmon Whipple lasered a pass to Micah Lavigne, who was streaking toward the net, but the ball bounced off a Shrine defender and somehow, some way deflected into the net.
Just like that, they were ahead by a goal and able to play a physical brand of soccer without worry almost immediately after the opening kickoff.
“We weren’t afraid to make mistakes, and we were going to leave it on the table, whatever it took,” said Thomason, a second-year coach. “The game was a bit cruel to Shrine in the beginning, if I’m being honest. That’s a tough goal to take, but we’ve had 9-10 goals against us this year when it’s been the opposite. It’s been freak goals against us, but sometimes things happen at the right time for a reason. We’ve continued to work hard, and things have paid off.”
The Eagles dictated play with their physicality.
They won 50-50 balls. They slid hard through tackles. They controlled possession.
That’s just how important that early 1-0 lead was, especially when they did make a mistake.
That came on a Shrine breakaway with just under 14 minutes remaining. PCA committed a foul in the 18-yard box. Knights junior Adam Imai attempted and made the ensuing penalty kick. And the score was knotted at 1.
But that was OK because of that early, crazy goal.
There was no need for PCA to pressure itself into retaliating right away. It could continue playing the match how it was all night long. It got to play its offense the way it had been playing it.
And, to the surprise of no one, the Eagles got their chance at the game-winner.
Grant Ramseyer took a breakaway down the far sideline, beat two defenders, including stutter-stepping to draw a Knight off-balanced near the left post, and then he blasted in a goal toward the right post with 6:53 remaining.
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“I just used my speed to try and get around the defender, which is what I was trying to do all night, and I was able to get through just then,” the sophomore forward said. “And then I knew the goalie would be coming at me on the left side, so I thought if I could get a good left on it and hit it to the right of the goal, it’d be open.
“That’s what happened.”
Yep, that’s what happened.
The Eagles’ defense just had to kill the remaining time off the scoreboard, and, voila, they’re back to the final four. They’ll take on Lansing Christian on Wednesday at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek.
“It feels amazing, and it means so much for this program,” Ramseyer added. “I think because, to come out after losing conference this season and bouncing back, it’s been amazing.”
They’ve certainly had their fair share of heartache.
It actually started a year ago when rival Lutheran Westland upset them 4-2 in the district championship.
That motivated them during their captain-led practices in the offseason as well as throughout their team training leading into the preseason.
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Except they lost five of their first nine matches of the season, including two Michigan Independent Athletic Conference-Blue games that ultimately cost them a chance at winning the league championship.
In their last 13 matches, though? They’ve won 12, outside of a 0-0 tie with their other rival, Allen Park Inter-City Baptist. And they’ve beaten some heavy-hitters in the postseason.
They took down the No. 1-ranked team in the Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association’s rankings, previously unbeaten Detroit Cristo Rey, during a 2-1 win in the regional opener.
That win saw Ramseyer create a scoring chance in the first half and get Cristo Rey’s goalkeeper out of position. To attempt to slow down the shot, a Wolves defender dove for the ball and stopped it from going in with both hands, which resulted in a red card and allowed the Eagles to play 11-on-10 for the rest of the match.
Whipple booted in the ensuing penalty kick and notched the game-winner in the second half.
And Ramseyer’s winning goal against Shrine? That ensured them a win over the third-ranked team.
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“(Losing in districts last year) made them hungrier, and we’ve had multiple guys training all summer long, including a lot of our club players,” Thomason said. “They knew how good we were, and it was a disappointment to lose that early because we knew we didn’t play to the level we could. It definitely pushed us and propelled us this year as well.
“But with them going back to the state semifinal, it’s the same mindset. We’ve got all of these big, ranked teams out of the way. No. 1 (Cristo Rey), we beat. No. 3 (Shrine), we beat. And now we’ve got to beat No. 4, Lansing Christian. We’ve just got a lot to prove, and we’re going to lay it all on the line. We’re not afraid to win. We know we have the talent to play against anyone in the state. I’ve said that since Day 1. Our talent level is high. We’re not afraid, that’s for sure.”
That’s the attitude that’ll be needed against the Pilgrims (22-2-0), which spent the first five weeks ranked No. 1 in Michigan until suffering back-to-back losses to DeWitt and Haslett, much bigger schools.
“We just played a tough Detroit Cristo Rey team, and I think winning that helped us tonight as well as our mentality (after our early goal),” said Whipple, a senior captain. “We had a big shift in the middle of the season, and, ever since then, we’ve just been on fire, and we’re excited for the next game to play against Lansing Christian.
“It’s huge (upsetting Shrine and getting to play Christian) because it’s senior year, and it means a lot. We’ve done a lot of work, a lot of hard, long practices and long days. It means the world, and I’m just so thankful for the coaches and this team and for everyone who contributed.”
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on Twitter at @folsombrandonj.
