The latest edition of the Brighton-Hartland girls soccer rivalry will take place on a different stage than either team has ever played.
They will meet for the championship of the inaugural Kensington Lakes Activities Association tournament at 7 p.m. Friday at Hartland after both teams won their semifinal games Tuesday night.
Both teams will be coming off shutouts, 11th-ranked Hartland winning 4-0 over Salem and 15th-ranked Brighton winning 1-0 over Northville.
“You can’t simulate a championship game, so to have one puts a little more pressure on the players, which definitely makes them game ready when we have knockout games in districts,” Brighton coach Ryan Carriere said. “We’re very excited to play Hartland in the final.”
Gracie Kastamo opened the scoring in the first eight minutes to give Hartland a 1-0 halftime lead. The Eagles (11-4-1) broke it open with three goals eight minutes apart midway through the second half. Claire L’Esperance scored twice and Paige Sundman had the other goal.
“The shutout was big for us, as we’ve not always been doing a lot of those this year,” Hartland coach Andrew Kartsounes said. “Jenna Brock had a great game in goal. She made 11 saves overall. She was really clean with everything she did today, so that was good to see. It’s a big step forward for us.”
Brighton advanced by beating Northville for the third time this season. The Mustangs are unbeaten in their other 12 games, going 9-0-3.
“They’ve had our number,” Carriere said. “This year is the first time we’ve been able to take it to them. To beat anyone three times is very difficult. We take each game individually, but at the same time the players know they did something special by beating them three times.”
Freshman Kyla Bobby scored her sixth goal of the season for the Bulldogs (13-3) three minutes into the second half.
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The KLAA went to a three-round postseason tournament format this season after determining its league champion with a crossover game between the first-place teams in each division.
Hartland is 3-0-1 in its last four meetings with Brighton since losing 3-0 in a district semifinal two years ago. The Eagles beat the Bulldogs in the teams’ only meeting this season, 3-1, by scoring three straight goals after a scoreless first half in which Brighton controlled much of the play.
The rivals will play in different districts after being in the same district the previous eight seasons. Hartland will host Lakeland at 6 p.m. May 21 in a first-round district game, while Brighton will host Lansing Everett at 6 p.m. May 21.
For Brighton and Hartland to meet again, they would have to reach the regional championship game at 6 p.m. June 5 at Grand Blanc.
Golf
Hartland 149, Salem 160
Sophomore Aidan Oake tied the Hartland record for lowest score on the front nine at Dunham Hills Golf Club with a 2-under-par 33. He matched the mark set by Sam Stark in 2010 and matched by Mitchell Cotten (three times) and Bryce Brief in 2018.
Wyatt Johnson shot 37, Grant Sturos 39 and Liam Kastamo 40 for the Eagles.
Baseball
Charyl Stockwell 18, Oakland Christian 1
Stockwell senior Drew Goodwin hit his third home run of the season, going 3-for-4. Cole Dryer and Aspen Jendrusik each drove in three runs, while Teddy Gottbreht was 3-for-4 with two RBIs for the Sentinels (16-2-1).
Noah Piesko allowed one hit and struck out seven in four innings, giving him a 6-0 record with a 0.55 earned run average and 65 strikeouts in 38 innings.
Softball
Fowlerville 16, Mason 5
Fowlerville 13, Mason 3
Kiely Davis was 7-for-8 with five RBIs in the doubleheader for Fowlerville.
Avery Borg and Ella Olrich each drove in three runs in the first game and Tommi Kleinschmidt had four RBIs in the nightcap.
Hartland 15, Fenton 3
Reece Dunny and Kaitlyn Brennan each drove in three runs, while Alayna Gardner and Sadie Malik each had three hits for Hartland (11-7-1).
Boys track and field
Fowlerville 92, Lansing Eastern 45
Fowlerville junior Landon Aeschliman cleared 13 feet to win pole vault, becoming the first athlete in the county to clear that distance this season. Jason Zarate of Charyl Stockwell is second in the county with a jump of 12-3.
Freshman Ethan Foster won the 200-meter dash and was on the Gladiators’ winning 400 and 800 relays. Fowlerville’s Nathan Miller swept the throws, winning shot put at 41 feet, 6 inches and discus at 123 feet.
Girls track and field
Lansing Eastern 72, Fowlerville 65
Maria Beach won the 800 and 3,200 and was on Fowlerville’s first-place 3,200 relay.
Boys lacrosse
Howell 16, Canton 5
Tyler Mira scored six goals on six shots, Cody Baker had four goals, Alex Byl had four takeaways and Liam Midlam made nine saves for Howell.
Brighton “B” 13, Lansing Catholic 9
Caden Friemark scored five goals in the season finale for Brighton’s “B” varsity team, which went 9-7.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Tuesday’s top performers: Brighton, Hartland to meet for KLAA girls soccer title
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
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