MISCUES COST BROTHER RICE IN DIVISION 2 FINAL LOSS
Grand Rapids Christian wins the game, 2-1
COMSTOCK PARK » At the state final level, a few mistakes can be enough to cost you a championship.
The Birmingham Brother Rice soccer team found out the hard way on Saturday, as a few first-half miscues led the Warriors to suffering a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Grand Rapids Christian in the Division 2 championship.
“It’s not very kind to you sometimes, soccer, but I am proud of them nonetheless,” Brother Rice coach Danny Price said. “They’ve been great. I feel for them. They are coming off the field crying. That’s the last time some of them are going to be putting on a Brother Rice shirt, it’s tough.”
The first miscue was arguably the biggest as an attempted pass back to the keeper led to Grand Rapids Christian senior Hans Pruis taking the ball away from the Rice keeper and getting a wide-open net just 13 minutes into the contest.
“We made silly errors in the first half. The back pass to the goal keeper, the boys know not to do that and that’s what’s hurting them,” Price said.
Pruis was an aggressive force in the early going and made a break on the pass once he saw it head toward the keeper.
“Credit to Hans for being able to work around and get a touch on that ball before the keeper was able to get it to him. I think they were surprised by his pace,” GRC coach Aric Dershem said.
The second goal came with 17 minutes left in the first half as senior Grant Hassenrik made his way down the field through a handful of Rice defenders and played a cross that was easily chipped in by senior Benjamin Kuiper to make it 2-0.
“We work on that second goal all the time — get to endlines, slot the ball back, and finish. I’m just glad we were able to do that in this one,” Dershem said.
With the two-goal deficit, Brother Rice picked up the aggression and controlled the play for most the remaining 57 minutes.
Rice was able to draw 16 fouls on GRC (16-7-2) in the contest, which led to scoring chances through their set pieces.
The Warriors had a shot go off the crossbar off a free kick, and another would-be goal was called off on keeper obstruction early in the second half.
Rice would get their lone goal with 13:54 to play off a free kick by junior Enzo Bordogna that senior Romas Mitrius was able to knock in.
“They really battled in the second half and I’m proud of them for that,” Price said. “They really took it to (GRC). We changed the system a little bit. We shifted to a 4-3-3 and it made us a little more balanced and they really just couldn’t deal with it. That’s why we were able to create some increased pressure.”
Rice came close to finding the equalizer in the final 13 minutes, but Grand Rapids Christian goalie Alexander Scofield kept the Eagles in the lead with nine saves.
“It’s been the story of our last couple games really,” Price said of chasing for a goal late. “We battered DeWitt on Wednesday in the semifinal and just couldn’t get the goal before the penalty shootout. We did it again today. In the second half I thought we fully deserved to get back on terms and see if we could go on and win the game. It just wasn’t our day.”
Rice finishes the season at 10-7-4, having matched their regular-season win total in the postseason. It was the Warriors’ first appearance in the state final since winning the D1 championship in 2009.
“(This team) put the school back on the map in the soccer sense,” Price, a thirdyear coach, said. “I think not a lot of people were thinking about Brother Rice, and rightfully so after the last seven or eight years, it’s not been great here. There’s so much to be proud of. District title, regional title and everything we have done this season has been positive.”