Birmingham Marian falls 2-1 to Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in D2 girls soccer title sport  – Daily Tribune

EAST LANSING — The Birmingham Marian Mustangs fell to the Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central Rangers, 2-1, in the Division 2 championship game at MSU’s DeMartin Soccer Complex on Saturday.

All the scoring came early in a wild start with the teams combining for three goals in a span of less than four minutes.

It was the Rangers who came away with a 2-1 lead on goals by Theryn Hallock and Stella Sutton sandwiching a brilliant individual effort by Marian’s Isa Agrusso who turned at the top of the penalty area, fought off two defenders and slotted a shot home with 32:29 to play in the first half. That tied the game 1-1, but Sutton scored off a corner kick less than a minute later to put the Rangers right back in front.

“We hadn’t give up a goal off a corner since the first game of the year,” Mustangs head coach Reid Friedrichs said. “We knew the restart battle was going to win the game, and we lost the restart battle. That ended up being the difference in the game.”

The Rangers’ counterattack created the early goals for Forest Hills Central and kept creating problems off and on all game long as the Mustangs struggled to cope with the Rangers’ speed.

“It’s not how we scripted the beginning, a very wide open game. We just looked a little shocked at how fast they could counter. We knew they could counter fast, but I don’t know if the girls were ready for that kind of speed and that quick of a counter,” Friedrichs said. “We though we were ready, thought that we had it set up defensively. But I think the girls were a little shocked at the speed dealing in a live scenario, and the game was just too wide open in the beginning.”

Birmingham Marian were the finalists in Division 2, falling 2-1 in the championship match played on Saturday June 18, 2022 at MSU’s DeMartin Soccer Complex. The Mustangs fell to the Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central Rangers, 2-1. (KEN SWART — For MediaNews Group)

Both teams were generating chances offensively throughout the first half. The Mustangs piled up seven corner kicks and had plenty of possession and pressure, highlighted by a five-minute stretch midway through the half of sustained pressure and chaos in and around the Ranger penalty area. But the Mustangs could not find the frame, putting every shot wide after Agrusso’s goal.

The game gained a bit more structure in the second half, and the Mustangs were better able to handle the Rangers’ quick counterattacks. But ultimately, they couldn’t find another goal, though they continued to create chances. Their best chance to tie came on a late breakaway, but Forest Hills Central goalkeeper Ava Wilberding shut it down and turned away all four shots on goal the Mustangs had after halftime.

“We had plenty of chances to score,” Friedrichs said. “We were inside the six two or three times. We had 10 corners, but we haven’t seen a team defend us on a corner like that all year. Their goalie was unbelievable. We tried to put it in different spots — short, far, outside the six; but they just kept winning them all, so we couldn’t win the restart battle.”

The Mustangs finish the year 17-2 and winners of the Catholic League Bishop Division playoff title as well as the Varsity Central regular season title. It was their fifth straight appearance in the Division 2 final.

“It was a year full of ups and down and injuries, and I thought the team was resilient,” Friedrichs said. “It was a year of change, and they adapted to it amazingly. I wish they had one more adaptation in there, but maybe it was just too much at the end.”