St. Clair Shores

Lake Shore boys soccer team thriving after realignment

By Jason Carmel Davis
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Patricia O’Blenes St. Clair Shores Lake Shore senior midfielder/defenseman Marcus Barnett, left, and the Shorians are in a battle with Macomb Dakota for the MAC Blue title. Photo by Patricia O’Blenes St. Clair Shores Lake Shore senior midfielder/defenseman Marcus Barnett, left, and the Shorians are in a battle with Macomb Dakota for the MAC Blue title.

ST. CLAIR SHORES — A move from the Macomb Area Conference Gold Division to the MAC Blue hasn’t negatively affected the St. Clair Shores Lake Shore boys soccer team.

At press time, the Shorians sat at 10-1-2, 6-1-2 in the MAC Blue, just a game behind Macomb Dakota in the division.

Lake Shore moved to the Blue after finishing in the top two in the Gold the last two seasons. The Shorians won the Gold in 2010.

“I’m not really surprised with how we’re playing. Honestly, I think we should be doing better,” Lake Shore senior defender Jaylin Harris said. “We’ve got a lot of talent on this team that’s raw and developed, so we should be having a good year.”

Shorians coach Dave Lount agreed with Harris, saying his team has several skilled players who’ve all contributed throughout the season.

Lount said continuity plays a major role in Lake Shore’s success, adding that a number of Shorian players participate together in camps and with club teams.

The Lake Shore coach touted Harris, senior midfielder/defender Matt Swarthout, junior midfielder Mike DeMara and senior midfielder/forward Marcus Barnett as standouts. Lount was quick, though, to acknowledge the contributions from every player on his roster.

“I think we’re doing really well,” Lount said. “We’re winning games even when we’re making mistakes.”

Harris and Lount agreed that defense is the strength of the team.

Harris, a fourth-year varsity player, said the Shorians’ defense paces a team that doesn’t score a lot, but gets timely goals.

“And we pass the ball really well,” Lount said. “We use all of the field when we’re out there, and it’s worked out for us.”

Lount said he hopes that success continues. Lake Shore won its district in 2011, but fell to Bloomfield Hills Andover in the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 regional finals.

The Lake Shore coach and his team have set a goal to have a deeper postseason run.

“Winning a division title would be nice, but we have bigger goals,” Harris said. “From going to the state regionals, we learned last year that teams we’ll face in the playoffs are the real deal and that we have to work really hard.

“But we don’t want to just get back to regionals. We want to go all the way.”

Lake Shore’s next game is a home matchup with Grosse Pointe North, set for 4:30 p.m. Sept. 28 at Lake Shore.
 

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Jason Carmel Davis at jdavis@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1107. Follow Jason Carmel on Twitter.