South Lyon beat Novi 3-2 in boys soccer on Aug. 26, but it was one of those matches where the referee seemed to have a short fuse and an itchy trigger finger.
Nearly 10 yellow cards were handed out, a Novi player was ejected nine minutes in and three penalty kicks were awarded. Heck, even a ball boy got carded.
It could’ve unraveled for a less experienced team.
However, the Lions (2-1-1, 1-1) graduated just eight seniors last season and return a core of veteran players. Back are Evan Shamberger and Jaden Sumpter, last year’s Lakes Valley Conference leaders in goals and assists, along with Adrian Kuri, one of the league’s more creative midfielders.
Without that senior leadership, South Lyon might not have survived Novi.
“Their leadership ended up being part of the difference in this game,” coach Brian Elliott said. “The cards were flying, there was some talking back and some kicking the balls away, but we had some good senior leadership. I’m proud of how the guys weathered the storm.”
South Lyon’s Alden Haller buried the winner off an Austin Scheel feed on a late breakaway, but Novi (1-4, 1-2) hardly looked like a team playing a man down.
Jaxson Bhatti scored both goals for the Wildcats, including a penalty kick to tie it 1-1 before halftime. His second strike cut the deficit to one with 10 minutes left, putting the Lions on their heels down the stretch.
“I’m really proud of my teammates because we all kept going and going, and we didn’t stop going,” said Shamberger, who scored with 13 minutes left. “We stayed composed for most of the second half, kept calm and got out of there with a good win.”
After a flurry of cards in the opening minutes, South Lyon’s Drew Oster buried a close-range shot off a West Larson pass. That goal was a result of the Lions’ leaders reigning in their teammates after a few emotional plays.
“Getting leadership from everybody tonight was a huge thing,” Shamberger added. “The better leadership you have, the better your team is going to handle the situations where the referee is going to give out yellow cards. It’s good to have a lot of seniors and juniors do that leadership and do that talking.”
South Lyon fans are watching their team grow up in real time.
The Lions tied Milford for first in league play last season but lost to the Mavericks in a similarly chippy LVC tournament final.
They learned from that loss — and from last week’s league opener, when White Lake Lakeland handed them a 2-0 upset after they came out “too cocky.”
Now they understand the importance of staying composed for the entire 80 minutes.
“Losing to Lakeland was definitely a shock to all of us,” said Shamberger, one of the Lions’ three returning All-LVC players. “It was definitely a wake-up call, but I’m glad it happened early in the season and not later. We still have six more LVC games to go before it’s done, so we can come back from that, realizing what we have to do better to win these games going forward.”
Shamberger called hanging on against Novi a “confidence boost,” proof that the Lions can handle adversity. That’s a good thing to learn early in the season, because more challenges are coming — whether from yellow cards or LVC opponents punching above their weight.
“We just talked bout how that game had the feel of some district games at the end of the year where we’re trying to protect the one-goal lead and weather the storm,” Elliott said. “So that was a good experience for them.”
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Only 4 games in, South Lyon boys soccer already weathering adversity
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
