Bangor Township, Michigan – With the championship in his pocket, Trent Phillips performed like an old pro.
Not like a player who had only scored his first goal ever an hour earlier.
Phillips, who has been playing in the John Glenn boys soccer program for four years, seized the perfect moment to break through. After scoring his first career goal earlier that day, his second goal was the game-winner and title-deciding goal in a 1-0 win over Bay City Western in the Bay County Boys Soccer Championship.
“He’s always active and involved in a lot of plays, so I just assumed he had made one,” Glenn coach Brian Scherzer said. “But someone asked, ‘How many goals is that for you?’ and he said, ‘That’s the first one.’ And then when he scored the game-winning goal, it was pretty impressive.
“The boys were really happy for him. When he got the trophy, everyone picked him up and carried him around. It was a great moment for everyone.”
Phillips’ goal in the final period capped a stellar day for the Bobcats (6-0). They defeated Pinconning 3-0, Essexville Garber 8-0 and Bay City Central 7-0 to set up a decisive matchup with Western.
A clash between the only two teams to ever win a Bay County title – Western and Glenn have five titles each – it proved to be a battle of wits and wills. No one managed to put a goal in the net for the first 20 minutes of the half and the game remained scoreless with seven minutes left.
But Phillips would be in the right place at the right time. And even though he doesn’t have a single goal on his resume to date, he would be the right person for the job.
“There was a scramble in front of the goal, the ball was thrown back and forth a few times and it was right there,” Scherzer said. “Sometimes kids get too excited and miss the shot. He took his time and scored perfectly.”
This was Glenn’s third consecutive Bay County trophy, including the second consecutive year without conceding a goal. Centre-back Ben Cleland led the way defensively and goalkeeper Drew Bailey was perfect in goal.
“We play more with possession and keep the ball under control much better,” said Scherzer. “And our defense is incredibly fast. They play so well together that it’s almost impossible to get past them.”
John Glenn celebrates his Bay County boys soccer championship.Decency
Glenn got an offensive explosion from Asher Clark, who scored seven goals and had one assist on the day, but he got a lot of help from his friends.
For the Bobcats, 13 of their 16 players either scored a goal or had an assist. Phillips, Wyatt Jeske and Landon Kogelman each scored two goals, while Justin Wingeier, Landen Beson-Montoya, Dylan DelAmo, Carter Glaza and Michael Nori each scored one goal.
DelAmo led with two assists, while Brady Priemer, Lucas Blossom, Arrow VanWagoner, Beson-Montoya, Glaza, Nori, Phillips and Kogelman each added an assist.
After setting a program record with 17 wins last season, the Bobcats are bubbling with excitement at the prospect of a special season this time around. Winning the Bay County Championship was a great start.
“This is a very cool team,” said Scherzer. “When things are going well, they are happy for each other. When things aren’t going so well, they stick together and help each other. Not every team has that.”
Western had to settle for second place, but had a solid day in the tournament hosted by Glenn. The Warriors defeated Essexville Garber 1-0, Central 6-0 and Pinconning 2-0 before being narrowly defeated by the Bobcats.
Western got three goals and an assist on the day from Luke Arnold, while Blake Wrzesinski had two assists. Luke Shotwell, Weston Carter, Hunter Kingsbury and Blake Dore each scored a goal. Shotwell had two assists, while Kaide Ruggles, Jacob Grzegorczyk, Gabe Grzegorczyk, Andrew Dowd and Dore each added an assist.
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