UPDATE: Avondale Soccer Wins First State Title in School History

TROY – The first two goals Skyler Russ scored for the Avondale High School varsity soccer team are going to be pretty hard to top.

His first goal was the game-winner on Wednesday in the semifinals against Bloomfield Hills Andover. The junior’s second goal was the go-ahead score on Saturday in the Division 2 state finals at . 

With only 1:53 remaining, Danny Swanson hit a free kick in the goal box that Russ was able to get a foot on between a group of defenders. The goal gave the Yellowjackets a 2-1 victory over Spring Lake and the first state title in school history.

“It went off my foot,” Russ said, smiling. “I saw him (Swanson) shoot it and I raced toward the ball and kicked it in. I flicked it up just enough so it was out of reach.”

Spring Lake played a very physical game and toward the end of the second half was called for numerous fouls. Michael Zietlow knocked down forward Joe Davison with a hard slide-tackle to set up the free kick that Avondale (18-5-2) used to score.

“The number of fouls we put up put us in a bad spot,” Spring Lake head coach Jeremy Thelen said.

The similarities between the semifinals and state finals didn’t stop with Russ’ goal. For the second straight game, the Yellowjackets had to erase a 1-0 halftime deficit.

In the first half, Tanner Berg put the Lakers on the board with a goal from Austin Gabris. Berg was able to get his head on a corner kick from Gabris to give his team a 1-0 lead with 11:53 to go in the half.

Spring Lake (23-2) was able to consistently generate scoring opportunities, but time after time came up empty handed. 

Avondale goaltender Ben Richter made some nice saves, but the defense as a whole was what kept the Lakers from scoring more than one goal in the first half. 

There were a couple of plays that would’ve been goals had a defender not been positioned perfectly to knock the ball out of the box.

Early in the second half, Richter had to come way out of the goal box on a breakaway from Alec Strahl. Richter tried to get in Strahl’s path, but the senior kicked it right between the goaltender’s legs. 

Garrett Ritterhaus came out of nowhere to stop the ball about a foot from the goal line and kick it out of bounds.

“(Those plays) show you the discipline of the defense,” Yellowjackets head coach David Muczynski said. “They don’t give up on any play.”

In the second half, Avondale was able to turn the tables. Joe Davison scored on a long throw-in from Erik Koberstein with 30:31 left in the game. The ball bounced around in the goal box before Davison was able to hit in the back of the net.

The fast pace of the game never seemed to bother the Yellowjackets and in the final 20 minutes they started to benefit from their outstanding conditioning.

When Spring Lake started to make mistakes, Avondale was able to capitalize and eventually score the game winner.

“This was a great game, Spring Lake was an outstanding team,” Muczynski said. “They played remarkably well.”