Dan Stickradt
Sports Scene
ROCHESTER HILLS — Rochester Stoney Creek is trying to turn a moment of disappointment into something grand on the soccer pitch this season.
May 31, 2014, was a nightmare. It was when the Cougars fell apart down the stretch, blew a late 2-0 lead, and eventually fell to Utica Eisenhower, 3-2, in the Division 1 district final.
This season, the Cougars have been ranked No.1 in the state in the MHSSCA Division 1 polls since the beginning and the pressure is on them. The Cougars boast six seniors who will play in NCAA Division I schools in the fall and several other players who are likely future college players.
“I know the girls talk about winning state. I remind them ‘Let’s worry about winning a district first in the postseason, and then take it one game at a time,’ ” noted fourth-year coach Bryan Mittelstadt.
Last season, the Cougars were ranked in the top five the whole campaign. Few teams returned as much talent as Stoney Creek, which opened its doors in 2002-03 and has been playing in the shadows of many great teams from the Oakland Activities Association.
As of April 26, the Cougars are 6-0-0 and have not yielded a goal all season. The team, which finished 15-2-1 last year, made a statement on April 24 with a 4-0 shutout of then-fourth-ranked Novi, which has won five state titles since 2005.
“We have a lot of talented players, but we haven’t gone anywhere yet. Right now, let’s worry about playing together and getting better each time we play. We want to win the OAA Red again this year,” said Mittelstadt. “We can’t talk about winning state when it’s early in the season. Sure, we have goals. But we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. I think we looked too far ahead last season and it cost us. We let our guards down against a very good Eisenhower team.”
Stoney Creek reached the Division 2 state final in 2005, its third campaign. The next season, it was moved up to Division 1 because of increased enrollment and has been there ever since.
The school has not won a district title since the 2005 season, either.
“One of the hardest things in our area is winning the district,” reminded Mittelstadt. “There are so many quality teams around here. And when you often have to play rivals in the tournament, anything can happen. We beat Rochester Adams in a shootout in the districts [semifinal] last year. And then we had to play Eisenhower.”
The team has one player who is in the discussion for Miss Soccer, senior forward Jamison Midgley, who is headed to Butler University next year.
In addition to Midgley, the Cougars have a plethora of talented players in the lineup. Two-sport standout Maria Zandi, who is headed to Oakland University and who is an all-state honoree in basketball, is the leader in the midfield. Junior Taylor Pardoski; sophomore Emily Solek, who joined the squad late last season; and sophomore newcomer Truly Hoenig have tormented opposing defenses this year.
Seniors Carly Harvey, Courtney Solek, Carly Cerny, and Madison Toth are defensive minded players who are college-level players. Freshman Isabella Langush is a quality addition to the defense. Senior Savannah Rembold, a Western Michigan University recruit, was the backup goaltender last season and has started all games this year.
“A lot of people don’t talk about our defense, but we gave up less than a goal a game last season,” noted Mittelstadt. “If we are to win something this year, our defense will have to keep playing the way they have been playing for the past few years. It’s not just our offense and all the offensive players we have. You have to [perform] on both ends of the field.”
“It’s high school soccer. Anything can happen,” he continued. “Nothing is a given. There’s a lot of teams that could win it all. We have a lot of talent. We have to keep them focused. We have a long ways to go.”