TRAVERSE CITY — That’s 15 straight for the Traverse City West Titans.
With their 5-1 victory over crosstown rival Traverse City Central in enemy territory at the Trojan Athletic Complex on Tuesday, the Titans clinched their 15th consecutive Big North Conference championship. The win also marks West’s 23rd BNC title in program history and their 18th victory in a row against Central.
Although the long run continues for the Titans (13-1-2, 9-0 Big North), West head coach Matt Griesinger said winning the conference is not an expectation.
“If there’s any pressure, it’s self-imposed pressure. And that’s fine. That’s the way we like it,” Griesinger said. “It’s certainly not an expectation because that would imply that we deserve it, and that takes away earning it. I’m proud of the boys, but this certainly isn’t something we thought belonged to us or is ours to lose. It’s everyone’s to win.”
Griesinger said the Titans love the rivalry games against Central because it brings out the fans and families with amped-up student sections.
“This is a cool event that sometimes we take for granted,” he said. “Grand Haven doesn’t get an in-town rivalry. Okemos doesn’t get an in-town rivalry. And Rockford doesn’t get an in-town rivalry. The fact that we get to do this on a Tuesday night in October is super special.”
West senior Brody Plumstead said the team tries not to focus too much on the rivalry when the Titans and Trojans go head to head, but clinching the BNC with a win against Central was a nice added benefit.
“We just want to play our game no matter what,” Plumstead said. “Emotions are high, but we just focus on our passion over emotion. Obviously, it makes it nice to come in here and get a win against them — but a win is a win is a win against any team.”
The Trojans (11-3, 7-2 Big North) got on the board first and scored off a penalty kick. Geordie Richmond went right while West keeper Camden Tkach guessed left, giving Central a 1-0 lead 4:49 into the game.
But West senior Aidan Orth assured his teammates that there was plenty of game left.
“Just a great indicator that soccer is a game of moments,” Griesinger said. “That was a mistake early on, but then we capitalized three minutes later. I’m proud of the boys for recognizing that, and hats off to Central for a good game.”
Orth put his money where his mouth was when he knotted the game at 1-1 on a PK of his own. Orth got into the box and looked as if he would score before he was tripped up by a Central defender, leading to the penalty. He stutter-stepped and then fired the ball by Central goalie Caleb Byland and into the back of the net at the 32:43 mark.
Orth had another opportunity at a PK with 25:35 left in the half after Jadin Collins was also tripped up in the box, but he sent it ringing off the crossbar. Fortunately for the Titans, Plumstead used his head — both figuratively and literally — to head it into an undefended goal after Byland went after the ball and could not corral it.
Plumstead made it 3-1 about 10 minutes later, taking advantage of a wild ball in the box and ripping a shot by Byland.
West took the two-goal lead into the break, and the Titans used ball possession and solid defense to keep the Trojans from gaining any momentum in the final 40 minutes.
Collins put West up 4-1 at the 23:23 mark after he got by Central’s coverage and rocketed one home for the easy score. Orth stuck the final dagger with his second goal of the game with 5:14 to play, securing the win and the Big North Conference crown.
“The No. 1 thing we have on this team is a brotherhood,” Plumstead said. “Everybody loves each other. We get through tough moments together. We laugh together. That can take us pretty far, and the talent is going to help us, too. But the brotherhood and passion will take us further. Playing for our school, for each other, for our coaches, for everybody.”
West takes on Gaylord at home Thursday and then finishes the regular season by hosting Bloomfield Hills on Saturday. The Titans will face either Midland or Midland Dow in the Division 1 district semifinals Oct. 15.
“We can’t win the district on Thursday,” Griesinger said. “We have to play Gaylord, and we’re going to go for it.”
Central closes out the regular season with a home tilt against Petoskey on Thursday and then battles Saginaw Heritage in the district semifinals Oct. 15 in the same bracket as West.
The Trojans could get one more shot at the Titans this season if both reach the district championship game.
“Not if we play like that we won’t. We were awful tonight,” Central head coach Gavin Richmond said. “We talked specifically at length about cutting out the mistakes, doing lots of basics right. The penalties are one thing, but the goal that came from the missed penalty was a mistake and the fifth goal was a mistake. We didn’t get anywhere near to our level.”
Richmond is hoping to see some improvement Thursday against the Northmen before a 12-day break ahead of districts.
“We’ve got to dust ourselves off. You get punched in the face, what’s our reaction going to be?” Richmond said. “Are you going to lie down and take it or are you going to get up and fight again? It’s a good character test for the boys. What kind of men are you? What kind of human beings are you?”
If the Trojans can pick themselves up and quickly rebound from Tuesday’s loss, Richmond said they’ll have to be a different team the next time they see West on the pitch.
“We’ve got this mental block when we go against our neighbors,” he said. “We’ve got to get over that hill someday.”