Leland Public School’s boys soccer team won a nailbiter of a game on Saturday to clinch a Division 4 state title. The Comets beat Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett to win the championship, with the game coming down to a penalty kick shootout.

Last Tuesday, the Comets won 2-1 in a state semifinal match against Grandville Calvin Christian to punch their ticket to the state finals for the first time since Leland won a title in 2018. In the championship game, momentum shifted in Leland’s favor early, thanks to a goal by senior Adrian Spencer with 24:24 still to go in the first half. But Grosse Point fired back before halftime, tying up the game at 1-1 before the teams headed to the locker rooms. A scoreless second half left the game deadlocked and sent the proceedings into overtime, which also produced no goals.

So it was that the two teams entered a winner-take-all shootout. Sharpshooting from Leland players Ignacio Creamer, Weston Burda, and Adrian Spencer, plus a pair of diving saves by goalkeeper Ravello Smith, brought the Comets into round five of penalty kicks with a 3-2 advantage and a chance to put the game away. Senior Howie Kropp rose to the occasion, finding the net to win the shootout 4-2 and the game 2-1.

According to an MHSAA writeup of the game, the goal marked the first score of the entire season for Kropp, who played at goalkeeper for his first three years of high school “before transitioning to the field this year.” Kropp told MHSAA that he’d leaned on the memory of his father, who had coached him at soccer before passing away when Kropp was eight, to stay calm and make the key play.

The win marks the second-ever boys soccer title in Leland Public School history. Rob Sirrine coached the team to this title-winning season.

Other Leelanau highlights from the end of the fall sports season include a runner-up finish for the Glen Lake boys cross country team at the Division 4 finals and a third-place Division 4 finish for Glen Lake’s boys tennis team. In tennis, the Lakers did bring home one title this fall, with Luke Selby and Levi Lamb winning the championship at the No. 4 doubles rung. Leland runner Sophie Grinage also found success at the cross country state finals, finishing fourth overall in 18:59.

Photo courtesy of MHSAA