BY DAN STICKRADT
Stickradt Media Group
Michigan Jaguars Communications
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
CANTON — Mohamed Miri is quick to remember the date his soccer career hit a little bump in the road.
“It was a bad day for me — April 11, 2015,” recalled Miri. “I tore my ACL and ended up missing a long time and even missed my entire junior (high school) season. I started playing again in the middle of November (2015). It was tough being on the bench, but I kept working hard rehabbing my knee. I still had goals in mind.”
Now a senior at Plymouth (Mich.) Canton High School and standout with the Michigan Jaguars club soccer organization, Miri is completely healthy and tearing it up on both the high school and club circuit.
As one of Michigan’s top seniors combining MRL club, high school and Developmental Academy players, Miri remained on the radar with several colleges and will now have a chance to live out his dream as being a college soccer player.
He officially signed his NCAA Division I National Letter-of-Intent Feb. 1 to play for the University of Detroit-Mercy men’s soccer team and celebrated it with 38 other athletes at the Michigan Jaguars club soccer organization’s signing day celebration at the Total Sports Complex in Wixom, Mich.
This past fall, Miri led Canton to a sterling 17-3-1 record, a top-10 ranking the whole season and a berth in the Division 1 district finals.
Muri was seventh in the voting for Mr. Soccer 2016 and landed a spot on the 11-member MHSSCA All-State Dream Team. He was also selected All-State First Team Division 1, All-Region, All-District and All-KLAA amongst numerous postseason honors.
He scored 24 goals with five assists over 21 games in his final season of high school ball and is also the leading goal scorer on his club team — not bad for a player who spent over six months on the sidelines less than two years ago.
“I promised myself that I wanted to play at the Division I level, and even with the injury, I still wanted to play at the highest level possible,” said Muri, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound striker. “I came back strong and proved myself that I could do it. I went out there to prove that I could get a Division I scholarship. That’s what I dreamed about all along.”
Muri gained plenty of minutes on Canton’s 2014 Division 1 state championship season, but missed his entire 2015 junior campaign with the aforementioned knee injury — a season that Canton still finished as the D-1 state runner-up.
Today, Miri is one of four players from the Michigan Jaguars organization to sign with Detroit Mercy — Novi’s Kyle Bandyk, Woodhaven’s Trevor Deon and Milford’s Dante D’Aloisio are the others — and the Titans are bringing in a deep, quality class of mainly Detroit-area players for the fall 2017 season.
“There’s a few guys from my old club team going, so I have chemistry with them and excited to play with them at the collegiate level,” said Miri. “Plus, I played with a few others (over the years) that are going to U-D as well. We have a great class of guys going there and Im excited. I know they are trying to build a stronger team than the one they have right now. (UDM men’s soccer coach Nicholas Deren) has some of the best players in the state going there and I’ve played with or against most of them.”
Miri chose UDM for multiple reasons.
“First, it is local and that’s a big draw,” said Miri. “But the scholarship, the money — college isn’t cheap as we all know. I had to take the very best offer possible and UDM offered me the best (package). But they also have a great business program there. I want to go into marketing, finance, sales in the business world and they will help me get there. You have to look at the big picture down the road for life after soccer. I want to be in the best position to get a great (career) in business.”
The journey for Mohamed Miri has seen its ups-and-downs, but is definitely on the way up for the soccer star.
“It’s been a great journey for me — high school-wise, club-wise,” offered Miri. “Even with the injury, I still learned a lot in that time. I am just glad to be playing and having the chance to play in college. I’ve played for a state championship high school team and a great club organization, the (Michigan) Jaguars, so it’s been a great four years.”
Now, Mohamed Miri gets the chance to live his next dream: College soccer at the NCAA Division I level.
“It’s a dream come true,” he added. “I can’t wait.”
MICIGAN JAGUARS 2017 SIGNEES LIST
Below is a list of current players form the Michigan Jaguars club soccer organization’s Class of 2017 that have committed and signed to play collegiate soccer.
GIRLS
Grace Backus Novi Central Michigan D
Emmaly Badgett Milford Lake Erie M
Caitie Baron Farmington Hills Mercy Xavier M
Amanda Britain North Farmington Mount St. Mary’s Univ. F
Kristen Burek Dearborn Edsel Ford Marygrove College D
Nicole Cataldo Walled Lake Western Grand Valley State Univ. M/F
Melanie Davies Plymouth Canton Cleary University D
Angie Davis Trenton Grand Valley State M/F
Abby Hegarty North Farmington Centre College D
Sophia Huber Hartland Heidelberg College M
Yasmine Jaafar Dearborn Fordson Madonna University D
Anna Jennings Waterford Mott Cleary University M
Baylee Johnston Brighton Northern Michigan F
Madison Jones Farmington Harrison Spring Arbor University M
Sarah Kajdasz Walled Lake Northern Mount St. Mary’s Univ. M
Natalia McElrath Chelsea Savannah College of Art GK
Talene Nercesian Walled Lake Northern Northwood University M
Melanie Porter Milford Madonna University F/M
Alexa Scroggie New Boston Huron Siena Heights University M
Cathy Sharif Wixom St. Catherine Cleary University D
Kayla Sharp Farmington Albion College F/M
Sydney Shembri Northville Xavier University F
Megan Swirczek Milford Schoolcraft College F
Lauren Wasiak Walled Lake Central Lawrence Tech M
Hannah Wolfe Walled Lake Northern Kalamazoo College D
BOYS
Kyle Bandyk Novi Detroit Mercy D/F
Steven Bentley Hartland Trine University M
Alex Braeseker Northville Lawrence Tech D
Dante DAloisio Milford Detroit Mercy M
Jack Dalzochio South Lyon Adrian College M/F
Trevor Deon Woodhaven Detroit Mercy M
Andre Eaton Jr. Warren Cousino Northwood University F
Mohamad Miri Plymouth Canton Detroit Mercy F
Andrew Person East Lansing Saginaw Valley State Univ. D
Cole Russell Burton Genesee Chr. Spring Arbor University F
Jack Stibal White Lake Lakeland Lawrence Tech M
Noah Walter Novi Detroit Cath. Cent. Northwood University F/M
Christian Zapata Livonia Stevenson Bluffton University M/F