EAST LANSING – Nia Bordogna raised her shoulders, palms up, as if to say, “What’s going on? Wasn’t that in?”
The Bloomfield Hills Marian captain had just rifled a shot toward Hudsonville Unity Christian’s net. It clanged off the bottom of the crossbar and fell to earth before the goalkeeper reached backward to smother it.
Bordogna ─ like many of her teammates, coaches and fans ─ thought the shot crossed the goal line to give the Mustangs a first-half lead in the MHSAA Division 2 soccer championship at Michigan State University on June 13. But play continued, and the non-goal became a momentum-changer as Marian (21-3) was kept off the scoreboard for the rest of the contest.
“We’re not taking anything away from Unity, but goals change games,” head coach Danny Price said following the 2-0 loss. “That would have changed the game, considering they were going for the record. Conceding the goal that they’ve been trying to stop all year to get them that record would have shook them a little bit.”
Not only was Unity spared the task of playing from behind, but the Crusaders scored both of their goals mere minutes after Marian’s near-tally. In both cases, the ball bounded to players who had wide-open looks at the net.
“The first one was just sheer luck. Leah (Krzeszewski) came out wide to defend the ball and actually made a great tackle, but it hit the girl’s leg and rebounded to the free forward, and she just tapped it into an empty goal,” Price said. “The second one, we got caught in a transition, their talented forward came through the middle of the field and tapped it in after the initial shot caromed off the post. I told our girls afterward that there was nothing that we did – they were just a very industrial, hard-working team.”
Top-ranked and undefeated Unity Christian (24-0) came into the contest having won 54 straight matches since May 2024 and having outscored opponents 99-1 this spring. This was the fourth straight season that the Crusaders had made a championship run without allowing a single postseason goal.
“They don’t particularly play a good brand of soccer, but they’re very athletic and very committed and very organized, and they play for each other, so I’m going to give them a lot of credit,” Price said. “It’s hard to play against them. They really suffocate you with their pressure.”
The contest featured two of the most-decorated programs in state history. Marian has won nine prior titles (most recently in 2021) and finished as runner-up on five occasions, while Unity Christian secured its all-time record 14th championship to go along with four runner-ups. All of the Crusaders’ championships have come since 2005, and the team has an active streak of four.
Division 4: Shrine falls to Harbor Springs, 2-0
Although Royal Oak Shrine was turned back by Harbor Springs, 2-0, in the MHSAA Division 4 final on June 12, the Knights weren’t about to hang their heads when considering the big picture.
“With how hard the girls worked and how hard their schedule was, they deserved to be here,” head coach Mark Soma said. “Even though we lost, it doesn’t matter ─ they played a great game, and they should be proud of themselves for getting here. Not everyone can say they played in a state final.”
Shrine (11-9-3) became just the third team in history to reach the state championship contest after finishing the regular season under .500. A five-game postseason winning streak earned them the trip to East Lansing.
“We’re prepared when it gets time for districts and regionals,” Soma said. “We’ve played Country Day, we’ve played Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s. We had some tough opponents, but we just want to play soccer and learn and develop that way.”
Shrine’s roster had an influx of new players and only contained three seniors, so early-season results weren’t an indicator of the team’s potential. But eventually the girls did jell by midyear.
“They started listening,” Soma said. “They started doing all the things we coach as a team – pass, possess, play smart, be physical – so once they started doing those things, everything started clicking. Once we got to Everest (in the regional final), we just dominated that game, and that gave the girls belief that they could make a good run.”
It was the fourth time the Knights had played in the state final, winning titles in 2019 and 2022. Harbor Springs, meanwhile, hadn’t been to the final since an overtime loss in the 2001 game.
The Rams (21-1-1) scored in the 18th minute of the game on a long shot from Stefi Reskevics from just beyond the goal box, after taking a pass from teammate Sophie Barnadyn. They doubled their advantage in the second half as Lizzie Bassett converted a free kick after Shrine committed a foul inside the box.
Shrine had 17 shots – 8 on goal – but couldn’t put the ball past Harbor Springs goalkeeper Lillian McShannock.
“We were getting the opportunities, right? We weren’t executing, necessarily,” Soma said. “We weren’t taking advantage of the outside part of the field, and we weren’t playing fast, which is what we try to tell the girls. We weren’t playing bad at the half, so I didn’t tell them much except to keep playing soccer. I think it was a great game.”
