Thirty Catholic League soccer players receive all-state recognition
GRAND LEDGE — There are people who are all talk, no action. And then there is Jimmy Spicuzzi.
The Warren De La Salle senior midfielder took the pitch in the MHSAA Division 2 state championship soccer game and quickly found he was an easy target of the nearby Hudsonville Unity Christian student fan section, which rode him mercilessly.
But Spicuzzi had the best response to that — he hammered home a goal that sent the Pilots on their way to their second straight state title, with an eventual 2-0 win.
“It felt so good, so good,” he said. “The other team’s student section, they were chirping. It felt so good to shush them.”
His goal came in the 11th minute of the contest. As teammate Max Wyszczelski put the ball in play on a throw-in to the goal mouth, it bounded about before Spicuzzi got enough of a foot on it to drive it past the Unity Christian keeper.
“We’ve been working on that all this year. To have it work when we really needed it was good,” Spicuzzi said. “It’s just keeping your eye on the ball at all times; that’s all it is, really.”
“Jimmy Spicuzzi scoring that first goal, the game-winner, was huge for this team,” coach Thaier Mukhtar said. “We discussed that we’ve got to capitalize on Max’s throw-ins. He puts out a dangerous ball and gives us a chance to score every time. We needed to follow the ball, follow the second hop. I thought Jimmy did a great job of following that play down, and he got what we call the second ball.”
The Pilots (21-4-2) doubled their advantage with 3:41 to play in the first half, as Nikolai Zacharko converted a successful penalty kick. Moments earlier, he had been pushed from behind while in the goal box, earning the free shot on net. Zacharko calmly stepped up and kicked a low line drive beyond the goalkeeper’s outstretched arms.
“It was pressure time, and he stepped up calmly and buried it,” Mukhtar said. “That was huge.”
“I’ve got a little bit of experience with those,” Zacharko said. “My sophomore year I had one pressure penalty in the state semifinals when we went home on penalty kicks (losing in a shoot-out), but I think that taught me a big lesson. I had a big penalty kick against Cranbrook the other week; I put it to the left side. I presume these top keepers always watch film, so I just looked him in the eyes and put it to the other side.
“That’s what Coach Mukhtar always reinforces with us — it’s a lot easier for a keeper to go high than it is to go low — especially the big guys.”
Zacharko’s goal gave the Pilots a two-goal advantage and changed the character of the contest.
“It’s a dangerous lead in the first half, but in the second half it’s a pretty good cushion, especially for our back line,” Zacharko said. “It takes a lot of pressure off and allows us to play our game.”
Unity Christian (19-1-4) outshot De La Salle 6-1 in the second half, but could not get any past keeper Dominic Baldarotta. Baldarotta’s afternoon also included making a big save on a Unity Christian penalty kick with 21 minutes to play. That seemed to deflate what the Crusaders had been building up to that point.
“After that penalty kick save, it was all over after that,” he said. “They lost all of their momentum and really started getting in their own heads.”
Mukhtar had much respect for Unity Christian, which hadn’t lost this season before the final, and like De La Salle, came into the contest with six prior state championships (most recently in 2023).
“I thought our kids followed a great game plan, and it was very successful. They were never shut down (this season) as much as they were today,” he said. “Credit goes to the boys just for listening and knowing what needs to get done, and getting it done. I’m very proud of them.”
Despite claiming back-to-back state titles, the magnitude of the event wasn’t lost on De La Salle’s goal-scorers.
“I love all these boys; they’re like family,” Spicuzzi said. “This year’s (win) just felt so much better, being a senior, doing it with the guys I’ve been playing with. But I’m thinking that I’m never going to play with these guys again. It feels horrible and it’s so bittersweet.”
“I’ve been playing with these guys for four years, and today just really showed our brotherhood,” Zacharko said. “We work for the guy next to us. That’s been a principle at De La Salle, and it will continue to be.”
University-Liggett also reaches championship match
Grosse Pointe Woods University-Liggett, the Catholic League’s Cardinal Division champion this year, also played in the MHSAA state finals, but came up short against Leland in the Division 4 match.
The contest was tied 1-1 in regulation play and after two overtimes before the Comets decided things in the shoot-out round by converting four attempts to Liggett's two. It goes into the books as a 2-1 final score.
Leland (16-8-2) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the game’s 15th minute with a goal by Adrian Spencer, but Liggett (19-3-1) knotted it up with 5:55 to play in the first half on a low line drive from sophomore Sekou Manneh. The teams then played a scoreless second half — when Liggett peppered the Comets with 10 shots — as well as two 10-minute overtimes.
Ollie Cooley and Brady Ancona were successful for Liggett in the shoot-out round, yet Leland goalkeeper Ravello Smith stopped the Knights’ other two attempts before the Comets’ Howie Kropp sealed the deal on his try.
It was the second championship overall for Leland, which also won in 2018. Leland also defeated Liggett 1-0 on Oct. 4, and the Knights were 6-0-1 since then as they hoped to win their first state title since 1999.
All-state honors announced
De La Salle’s Balderotta, Corder, Wyszczelski and Zacharko were named to the Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association’s Division 2 all-state first team, as announced on Nov. 5, with Corder netting an additional honor on the statewide “Dream Team.”
Gavin Balderotta and Spicuzzi were honored as second-team all-staters, with Josh Wilson selected on the third team.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood — whom De La Salle defeated in the semi-finals — also had several honorees in Division 2, including Charlie Gold (first team), Jayson Xu (second team), and Kai Xu and Alvaro Regalado (third team). Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Charlie Bear was listed on the second team.
Division 4’s first all-state team includes five Catholic League players: Diego Vargas and Alejandro Garita of Detroit Cristo Rey, Oliver Cooley from University-Liggett, and Sean Murphy and Caesar Soma of Royal Oak Shrine.
Shrine’s Adam Imai and Caden Whitbeck were named to the second all-state team. The third team includes Jack Orris of Allen Park Cabrini, Charlie Schmitt of Clarkston Everest Collegiate, and Quinn Chisek of Riverview Gabriel Richard.
In Division 1, Grant Mooradian of Novi Detroit Catholic Central was honored on the first team. University of Detroit Jesuit’s Vasco Marra was on the second team.
Pontiac
Notre Dame Prep had four first-team all-staters in Division 3: Tomassino Offer,
Daniel Lebanion, Jack Kilpatrick and Matthew Marsheh. Sebastian Dickinson of
Ann Arbor Greenhills and Cullen Knuth of Marine City Cardinal Mooney were
second-teamers, while Greenhills’ Nico Bichakjian is on the third team.
