HART — Montague hit its stride at the perfect time in this season's district tournament, but the Wildcats couldn't fully recapture their 2024 magic in last Thursday's district final, dropping a 1-0 heartbreaker to Manistee.
The teams effectively played to a standstill, but when Montague (5-15-1) was called for a handball violation in the box with 9:27 to go, the Mariners were awarded a penalty kick. Max Scharp took the PK and placed it perfectly in the corner to score the game's only goal.
It was a bitter way to go for the Wildcats, especially because as the game progressed, they seemed to be getting closer and closer to getting on the board themselves. Manistee had more opportunities early on, but Montague pushed back through much of the second half.
"I wish the 1-0 was on our side, we all do, but still, it was some of the best soccer, these last four matches, that these
boys have played all season," Montague coach Brandon Mahoney said. "They put it together. They figured it out."
The action certainly did not resemble the 8-3 win Manistee recorded over Montague in the regular season, and the Wildcats playing Thursday looked far different than that group. A leading quintet of Michael Jones, Tyson Schattenberg, Jonah Henderson, Isaiah King and Noah Raeth seemed to constantly be around the ball and played nearly every minute of the game.
Montague's Michael Jones stays focused on the ball while trying to get it from a Manistee foe during last Thursday's district finals game in Hart. The Wildcats lost, 1-0.
Another star of the game for Montague was sophomore keeper Ethan Balon, who belied his experience level with a confident, assured performance running things on the back end of the field. Mahoney said Balon was unable to play early in the season due to a medical issue, but after stepping between the posts, he's looked the part.
"He has
really done a phenomenal job for us," Mahoney said. "He stopped some really good shots
tonight. It's tough stopping a PK, especially a well-placed one in
the corner. He was big back there
for us."
The Wildcats took a long time to find themselves in 2025, and at one point they went six weeks without winning a game. However, every soccer coach in Michigan wants to peak in October, and Montague is one team that can without doubt say it did, recording three straight wins, two of them in districts, before bowing out.
"It doesn't matter how you start. It's how you finish," Mahoney said. "To finish
runners-up in our district, it's still a magical place to be for these
boys, I know they wanted that trophy, and they wanted the medals like we
all do, but to be here back-to-back years when we (had) never been to
the finals (before), it says so much about their character."
There appears to be much to look forward to for the team as well. While Raeth and Jones will be much-missed as they graduate in the spring, the rest of the team's starters are slated to return, and a large crop of eighth-graders is on the way too. The seniors will have a lot of ownership, Mahoney said, in the successes that hopefully lie ahead for the returning players.
"We are heavy with sophomores," Mahoney said. "The keeper's a sophomore. A bunch of
the guys in the back line are sophomores. A bunch of my midfield are sophomores. It's because of those seniors in
the prior class that came to us. That's why
we're here today, because of those players. It (brought) other kids
out.
"We started 13 years ago with
16 kids, and that's it. This year we're at 37 or 38, and
next year will probably be more than that. It's fun to see the progression and see the kids love the sport and play
for each other."
