By Sue Teggart
C & G Sports Writer

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Despite suffering an 8-0 loss in the Oct. 14 Division 2 district opener against Bloomfield Hills Andover, the Hazel Park High boys soccer team walked off the field with their heads held high.

“We can walk out of here very proud of what we’ve done this season,” Hazel Park coach Amy Houser said.

In Hazel Park’s first season competing in the Oakland Activities Association Blue Division — the OAA switched from four numbered divisions to three color divisions this school year — Houser said the Vikings (5-9-2 overall, 3-8-1 Blue Division) competed hard, learned valuable lessons and even surprised a couple of teams along the way.

“We learned that we are a lot better than we think we are and that winning is hard work,” junior captain Cruz Castillo said. “We need to raise the bar next year.”
A few of this season’s highlights include tying Farmington Hills Harrison 3-3 and defeating longtime rival Ferndale High 2-0.

“Everybody improved their play in the second half of the season, and it made a big difference,” Houser said. “As a team, we definitely grew and learned from each other.”

“We did a lot better than we thought we were going to do,” Castillo said. “We stepped it up, from tying Harrison to almost beating Farmington. We competed hard and are proud of our effort.”

As a returning starter and captain, Castillo knows he’ll be carrying the mantle of leadership next season.

“It’s going to take hard work and dedication to build on what we started this year,” Castillo said. “We’re losing a lot of starters, so our younger players are going to have to pick it up and start working harder to get ready for varsity.”

Houser said in many ways, this inaugural season in the Blue is the starting point for future success in the program.

“It’s a tough way to end the year, but this was a good building block for our team, and that’s the positive that we have to take out of the season,” Houser said. “I think our team’s success is built on work ethic and character, and while these times are no fun to go through, in the end, they are part of the building process.”

Hazel Park bids farewell to seven seniors: Joey Arbrow, Chad Helberg, Scott Ogden, Eric Riden, Levi Laframboise, Nathan Paholsky and Jason Thomas.

Foley bows out

Madison Heights Bishop Foley lost to Beverly Hills Detroit Country Day 2-1 in a Division 3 semifinal in double overtime Oct. 15.

After 80 minutes of regulation, the game was tied at 1-1, as sophomore Anthony Rice scored Foley’s lone goal with less than a minute remaining in the first half.

“I told the boys after the game that we have nothing to be ashamed of,” Foley coach John Pisacreta said. “We thought if we came out and outworked them and stuck to our style of play that we’d be in it, and we were. We had chances to win it.”

The Ventures played a solid game on defense, especially sophomore keeper Andrew Claucherty.

“We needed the guys to step up, and he stepped up today and made some huge saves,” Pisacreta said of Claucherty.

The Ventures opened district play with a 4-0 win over South Lyon East Oct. 13. Junior Tim Oravetz led the way, scoring two goals. Juniors Derek Rosiek, who scored on a penalty kick, and Alan Wisniewski, who added the final goal, also had big games.

Foley headed into districts just days after winning Catholic High School League CD Championship, defeating Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard 2-0 in the final.

“In the history of the school, we had never won a Catholic League Championship. So for us and for the boys, it was good for us to do that,” Pisacreta said.

Bishop Foley wrapped up its season 9-8-2 overall.

Rams win Gold title, fall in districts

Madison Heights Lamphere’s season came to an end Oct. 15 at St. Clair Shores Lakeview with a 1-0 loss to Hamtramck High in a Division 2 district semifinal.

The Rams and Cosmos battled back and forth throughout the game, but Hamtramck went ahead for good with a little less than 20 minutes remaining after a goal on a long free kick.

“We tried the best we can,” Lamphere coach Joe Hanna said. “I think we had a couple of mistakes. We tried to come back and had a few chances, but we couldn’t finish it.”

While the Rams couldn’t find postseason success, they ended the regular season with a league championship. Lamphere finished 12-4-3 overall, 8-2-2 in the Macomb Area Conference Gold Division. In a tight race to the finish, the Rams outlasted South Lake 1-0 on the final day of season and won the league title by two points over Center Line.

“We had a good season, and this is a hard break — we lost tonight,” Hanna said. “The division was realigned, and nobody knew who was going to win. The last five games we played good. We played like a team, and we scored goals and finished.

“I’m proud of all the guys on my team, especially the seniors.”

Lamphere will lose seven seniors from its championship squad in Waleed Daniel, David Gettel, Dorian Tagai, Matt Mandarino, Justin Clendennin, Peter Makowski and Matt Lehto.

With some underclassmen, including freshmen, playing key roles for the Rams, Hanna expects the team to have similar success in the future.

“We had young guys come up and help us this year; that was a surprise,” Hanna said. “We have young guys coming next year, and I hope we’re going to be a better team.”

Sports Writer Jon Malavolti contributed to this report

You can reach Sports Writer Sue Teggart at steggart@candgnews.com or at (586) 279-1107.