EAST LANSING — Agony and ecstasy.
Those were the emotions radiating from the Grand Rapids Catholic Central and Warren Regina girls soccer teams standing 20 feet apart at midfield of Michigan State’s DeMartin Field.
Catholic Central eagerly awaited the chance to lift the MHSAA Division 3 girls soccer state championship trophy after a convincing 2-0 win Friday, June 13. Warren Regina looked on with tear-stained faces and runner-up medals hanging around their necks.
“I’m just so happy,” said CC senior midfielder Maurine Schneider. “It literally doesn’t feel real. I’m crying and there are so many emotions, but they are happy emotions. All the hard work has led up to what we did here today.”
On the other side was the pain of coming so close to being a state champion.
“We tried so hard, worked so hard and the fact we made it here today was amazing,” Regina senior midfielder and forward Jenna Moeller said. “We are sad we couldn’t win.”
CC came out on top in the battle of first-time state championship participants, and the Cougars’ ability to capitalize on set pieces proved to be the difference.
Regina had a handful of chances in the first 20 minutes but couldn’t get a quality chance on goal while dictating the pace of play. CC put its first dangerous threat in the back of the net, off a corner kick.
Senior Sophia Piccione’s corner kick bounced around in the box off a header from Schneider, and junior Grace McKinney jumped on the loose ball and tapped it past the goalie to give CC the lead 20 minutes in.
“Just post up like basketball,” said CC coach Genevieve Sander on her message to McKinney. “Just post up, dish off and you’re going to get a goal.”
In the 51st minute, Regina committed a foul just outside of its own goalie box, giving CC a free kick in a precarious position. Piccione provided service again, and this time, Schneider was in the right spot for a rebound. She shot on her first touch, and tucked the ball in the left corner through a sea of Regina defenders.
“I’ve been working on one-time (shots) at practice,” Schneider said. “I knew that I had to stay off the ball and then when it came to me, I was like ‘I have to put this in.'”
Regina kept feeding the ball to Moeller at forward looking for a spark of offense, but couldn’t find a way to crack CC’s defense. Moeller had a handful of shots, dangerous free kicks and a solid cross into the box, but couldn’t find a way to help produce a goal.
“We played through ups and downs,” Moeller, committed to Siena Heights, said. “We thought we had this one in the bag. But, ultimately, we didn’t pull through.”
Regina didn’t expect to end its season playing the final game of the Division 3 season in East Lansing after a rocky start. The offense struggled to score, leading to six ties on the season, but three shutouts and a shootout win over Birmingham Detroit Country Day helped produce the program’s first finals appearance.
“We made it the furthest in my four years and I didn’t think we were going to make it past districts,” Moeller said. “I’m so proud of this team. We didn’t win, but I’m so proud of everyone.”
Regina graduates only two seniors, including Moeller, so the team hopes to build on the program’s best season with plenty of playoff experience logged.
“I feel terrible for (Moeller),” Regina coach Stefano Moraccini said. “She’s going to do well in college at Siena Heights. We are going to miss her next year and it’s time for someone else to step up. We lost two seniors this year. We’ve got a very young team, so next year looks good for us.”
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Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com; Follow Jared on X or Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MHSAA soccer: Grand Rapids CC prevails over Warren Regina in D-3 battle of first-timers
Reporting by Jared Ramsey, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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