Jeff Chaney
Sports Scene
CEDAR SPRINGS, MI – There is no doubt that the Mount Pleasant girls soccer team has been one of the better programs in mid Michigan for quite some time now.
The problem for the Oilers occurs when they travel to other parts of the state during the MHSAA state tournament.
That was the case this year, as coach John Bunting had a solid team that was led by a superstar senior forward Emma Kahn, and that also had solid players around her.
Mount Pleasant won 13 games and advanced to the Division 2 regional final at Cedar Springs High School, and that is where its season ended, as it lost a heartbreaking 1-0 game to Grand Rapids Christian.
Mount Pleasant was in the game the whole way, but a closer look at the stats showed that Christian controlled the game, outshooting the Oilers 10-2 and controlling tempo most of the way.
After Bunting had a little time to reflect after the game on what might have been done differently to get a different result and see his Oilers finally advance past this stage of the state tournament, he concluded that it might take a more rugged schedule to perform better when the stakes are higher.
“Four or five of our victories this year have been mercies, and it’s just the [league] that we play in,” said Bunting, whose team ended the year with a 13-5-5 record. “We have five or six real competitive games, and [a team like Christian] will have 15. So the experience to play defense, manage the time well, be in the right position, they are always in games like this.”
Grand Rapids Christian coach Bryan Prins agrees with that assessment. “We have a very tough schedule,” he said. “We are in the OK White, so we play Forest Hills Central, Caledonia, and other tough schools like an East Kentwood and Rockford. You don’t beat up on those schools, but you learn to play against tough competition, and that helps you now. We’ve lost to those teams, but you learn a lot in defeat.”
So at the expense of a less stellar record during the year, but maybe with the payoff of the knowledge of playing in close games and being battle tested, Bunting may have to amp up the competition.
Bunting has the talent coming back next year, like Kahn’s younger sister, sophomore midfielder Hannah Kahn. Six freshmen that with varsity experience this year, Jordyn Mullikin, Kaelyn Maurer, Sammi Boles, Lindsey Moore, Julia Pung, and Ally Wentworth, will be back also.
But the Oilers need more games like the 1-0 loss it suffered in the regional final if they are to finally take that next step in the state tournament.