Lathrup Village, Southfield

Southfield Christian and Lathrup soccer teams done in districts

By Mike Moore
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Andrew Potter Southfield Christian’s Aaron Harting (17) leaps in the air to make a play on the ball against Shrine in a district semifinal. The Eagles lost in the final two days later. Photo by Andrew Potter Southfield Christian’s Aaron Harting (17) leaps in the air to make a play on the ball against Shrine in a district semifinal. The Eagles lost in the final two days later.

Dennis Brose anticipated a battle when it came to the 2012 season and the journey his Southfield Christian soccer team would have to endure.

After losing some key players to graduation and a few more who decided to play academy soccer, the Eagles’ coach and his guys prepped for a grueling struggle that would, hopefully, lead to playoff success.

It just about worked.

“I told the boys, in the end, all we can do is go out and give this everything we have,” Brose said after his team reached a Division 4 district final and fell to Hamtramck Frontier International 2-1. “They walked off the field knowing they did everything possible to get everything they could out of this season.”

Southfield Christian ended the year an impressive 11-10-0, including a 2-1 victory against Royal Oak Shrine in the district semifinals and a 3-0 win against Sterling Heights Parkway Christian in its opener.

“It was a tough, tough way to end the season,” Brose said. “Frontier Academy is a good team, and they forced us to shuffle some guys around because of the way they play. So we were a little off our game. I don’t think the creativity was there, and that’s a credit to Frontier.”

The Eagles have four seniors on the current roster and could bring back as many as 15 varsity veterans in 2013.

“We’ve got a good number of guys coming back,” Brose said. “We’ll have to replace some key guys, and then work with some of the kids we know are coming in that may be able to help us out right away. But we’re in good shape moving forward.”

Wild and crazy end

In one of the higher-scoring games in the district round, Lathrup Village Southfield-Lathrup had its season come to a close in a 5-4 loss to Warren Mott in an Oct. 15 opener.

“It was a tough end, but the whole season was a big step in the right direction,” coach James Babb said. “To have the guys as a varsity team for the first time was great.”

Lathrup ended its initial season as a varsity squad 5-9-0.

“This is a young team, with nearly everyone set to come back next year,” Babb added. “Right now, the big thing we have to work on is depth. There were times this year we were playing with just 11 guys. So with more numbers, we’re going to be much better off.”

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1038. Follow Mike on Twitter.