Grosse Pointe Farms

South soccer wins district title; falls in regionals

By Mark Vest
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by David Schreiber Sophomore Robert Durand attempts to make a play on the ball during Grosse Pointe South’s regional semifinal loss to Utica Ford II. Coach Stefan Harris hopes that observing the seniors on the team will benefit the underclassmen as the program moves forward. Photo by David Schreiber Sophomore Robert Durand attempts to make a play on the ball during Grosse Pointe South’s regional semifinal loss to Utica Ford II. Coach Stefan Harris hopes that observing the seniors on the team will benefit the underclassmen as the program moves forward.

The Grosse Pointe South boys soccer season has come to an end at the hands of Utica Ford II following a 3-0 regional semifinal loss Oct. 23.

Despite not having an opportunity to move on in the postseason, coach Stefan Harris hopes his team reflects on their accomplishments.

“It’s unfortunate, but we’ll grow,” he said. “This is our first time (in regionals) here in five years, and it’s a good experience for the boys. We take the positive out of everything. It was a great season. We achieved a lot of our goals we set at the beginning of the year.”

One of those achieved goals was South’s first district championship since 2007. Earlier this season, Harris spoke about putting soccer back on the map at South, and he considers a district title to be a nice start in that direction.

John Griffin, Jeffrey Woolstrum, Alexander Detwiler, Joshua Carolan, Maxim Ganesch, Mark Adamszek, Samuel Archinal, Noah Stenhouse, Alexander Wilson and Noel Fets represent the 10 seniors on the squad who helped the team achieve its goal.

Harris appreciates the effort of the entire team.

“Every game I’ve been happy with my team’s effort,” he said. “Do we have the (same) skill as a lot of teams? No. But our heart and our work ethic has got us this far. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”

Harris is hoping that the team’s success pays dividends as the program moves forward. A district championship can help to create excitement around a program, and he is hoping the players who return next year can help to make some more good memories.

“We set a good standard now,” Harris said. “Hopefully, the JV players and underclassmen see the success our seniors have had this year, and the varsity team. We get going right at the end of this season. We have our meeting next week and we get started (on the) offseason right away. It’s exciting.”

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mark Vest at mvest@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1112. Follow Mark on Twitter.