CLARE — Whitehall knew it had a tall task if it was to upset No. 1-ranked Elk Rapids in Thursday's regional championship game. The Elks entered the game having not given up any goals since Sept. 12 and, according to Whitehall coach Dillon McCarthy, as the highest-scoring team in Division 3 - an imposing combination.
For 40 minutes, the Vikings did everything right in their quest for an upset, keeping the Elks off the scoreboard despite constant pressure, hoping for an opening they could exploit. That opening never arose, though, and eventually Elk Rapids was able to break the Viking defense, resulting in a 3-0 final score.
"I think it was a battle of attrition," McCarthy said. "Putting Carter (Burrous) as a holding mid doesn't allow us to get a ton of offensive looks, but he is one of our fast athletes that (you can) put him anywhere. He played well. He had to play pretty defensively, though. All in all, come the second half, it just took one goal to fall, and then we were going to be instantly trying to respond, because that's a team that, once they score once, they can get it going."
Whitehall never did manage a clear shot on goal against Elk Rapids, which is typical for a team that's given up only six goals all year and shut out 21 of its 25 opponents. However, the Vikings impressed defensively in the first half, staving off near-constant pressure. The Elks' Eli Zbytowski was especially adept at creating chances by launching any throw-in near the Whitehall goal close enough that Vikings' keeper Ethan Sylvester often had to make a play on the ball himself.
At one point, Elk Rapids did have a clear opportunity when the ball came loose in front of the net, but Whitehall's defense was able to clear it. At halftime, the Vikings had a chance to regroup.
"To be honest with you, we held on," McCarthy said. "That was a good first 40 minutes. We took about 5-10 minutes to settle in and tried to play a little confident. It's tough to find a balance of playing reserved and not just sitting on your heels."
The Elks regrouped too, though, and it didn't take long to break the deadlock after the action resumed. Sylvester made an impressive save on the Elks' best shot to that point just over three minutes out of the break, and two minutes after that, senior captain Tyler Standfest charged the net to cash in a rebound shot.
It's not uncommon for underdogs, after conceding the first goal against a favorite, to collapse and allow several more. Whitehall, though, didn't panic and continued to play their game.
After a while, McCarthy said, the Vikings changed some things up, playing more aggressively to try to get a goal. After all, he reasoned, you don't get anything for losing by one goal instead of three in the postseason.
The Elks held strong, though, and continued attacking the Whitehall net. They got two more goals late in the game, one each by Gavin Hamilton and Blake Springstead.
McCarthy said the Elks' athleticism and experience is what makes them so good, crediting coach Nate Plum for the program he has built over the years; Plum collected his 300th career victory earlier this season. Seeing the peak of Division 3 soccer in action will no doubt motivate the Vikings to get to that level.
"They're bigger, faster, stronger in some positions," McCarthy said. "I think they've got eight or nine seniors. I've got Austin Siemen, who's literally 15 years old...He's a little boy, but he's like a baby deer. You can see his paws, and he's going to grow into that body. I got a look at him and said, 'It's going to feel really good in three years when you're the junior, with a beard, and you can use your soccer IQ and skill to then also be the big, fast, strong athlete.'"
The game marked the end of the road for Burrous and Chandler Culp, the team's only two seniors, as well as foreign exchange students Samuel Chona, Juan Alonso and Davi Santana, each valuable contributors this season. McCarthy said each deserves credit for the legacy they'll leave behind - and the new standard their younger teammates will now be charged with meeting.
One of those will be keeper Sylvester, who shone all season; Thursday marked only his fourth time allowing multiple goals this year.
"They got a taste of it," McCarthy said of the 20 who will return. "They got to see some success in a regional semi. They've got to wear this one and have it hurt a little bit, but I do know it's just going to help them come back this offseason, get stronger, get in the weight room and in the summer, get as many touches on the ball as they can.
"(Ethan)'s going to beat himself up for getting hit in the hands a few times...That's why I love Ethan, though, because he's going to get mad at himself and he's just going to try to get better. His growth from last year to this year has been exponential. That kid loves soccer. He lives, eats, and breathes it. I love his energy too, and he's just a good, coachable kid. It's tough to see three on (the scoreboard), but I don't think that the score is a testament to how hard the boys played and how they left it out there."
