ST. CLAIR — After spending five seasons in the MAC Blue, the St. Clair High School girls soccer team moved up to the more-difficult MAC White in 2025.
But while the promotion signified growth, it also meant growing pains.
“The biggest thing was (our players) getting used to the speed of play,” St. Clair coach Cliff Freeland said. “Every game was competitive and we had a good team. But the pace from the Blue to the White is pretty drastic. We also were struggling to score goals.”
The Saints started 2-6-1 in league play last year, suffering all six losses by a single goal. Still, something must have clicked following that sixth conference defeat on May 7, 2025, because they’ve been perfect in the White ever since.
“We made a few changes and started scoring goals,” Freeland said. “This year, we’ve played extremely well.”
That’s an understatement.
The Saints just finished the 2026 regular season 14-2-2 overall and 12-0-0 in the MAC White. They’ve also won 15 straight conference games dating back to last year.
“We’re all really unselfish,” junior Chayse Donaldson said. “We don’t really care about our (own individual) stats.”
What matters to them is the team’s stat sheet, which speaks for itself. The Saints have scored 51 goals (2.8 per game) this season, compared to 15 (0.8 per game) by their opponents. Seven of St. Clair wins have been shutout victories.
“We’re very good at passing to the inside and playing down the line,” junior Ella Groeneveld said. “We always know where each other are and we always talk and communicate.”
“I have good leadership,” Freeland said. “I returned a pretty good core group. I start four freshmen and you’d never know it. A lot of (our sustained success), though, is because of these four right there and how they lead on the field.”
Those four include senior captains Lila Cron and Tessa Freeland, along with Donaldson and Groeneveld.
“I’ve worked the most on my leadership skills,” Cron said. “Like my communication skills and building (teammates) up, even if we make mistakes.”
Quite often, the Saints make the opposition pay for their mistakes.
“My defense is stout,” Cliff Freeland said. “Our back four is very good. But as a whole, we play great defense. Then, offensively, we just get after it. Our motto, forever, has been: all out, all game, all season. And that’s how we play.”
It’s how the Saints ascended the conference ladder under the nine-year coach.
“We started in the MAC Gold my first year,” Cliff Freeland said. “Ended up in the MAC Blue and now we’re in the MAC White. Now, we’re going to the MAC Red next year. It’s beyond impressive. I’ve had unbelievable players over the years.”
The Mac Red, of course, is the top league in the Macomb Area Conference.
“It’s a very big accomplishment and I think every girl should be proud of it,” said Tessa Freeland, who is also Cliff’s daughter. “Because we’ve all worked our butts off … it’s a great accomplishment. We just need to keep going with the season and keep pushing to be better.”
Their season continues Tuesday, May 26, with a trip to Grosse Pointe North for an MHSAA Division 2 district semifinal. Game time is 5 p.m.
Since 2018, St. Clair is 15-7 in the MHSAA tournament and has won five district championships.
“Our postseason matters a lot to us,” Donaldson said. “We play a lot of hard teams throughout the season to prepare for it.”
“We’re a really good team,” Cliff Freeland said. “Sometimes, we’re (just) good. But when we’re great, we’re tough to beat … we can play with anybody.”
Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @BrendenWelper.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Having mastered MAC White, St. Clair girls soccer set for postseason test
Reporting by Brenden Welper, Port Huron Times Herald / Port Huron Times Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
