LANSING — One of the top goals for Ryan Thomason since becoming the coach of the Plymouth Christian girls soccer team has been to lead the program to historic success.
And the Eagles have been knocking on the door of claiming the first regional in school history in recent years with title game losses in 2022 and 2024.
Plymouth Christian broke through in its latest Division 4 regional final appearance with Clare Binder and Mary Michalak making key plays.
Binder scored the winning goal and Michalak had a key save in the closing seconds while lifting Plymouth Christian to a 1-0 victory over Laingsburg on June 5 at Lansing Christian.
“It’s been the goal for seven years and since I took over the program,” Thomason said. “We’ve had so many fabulous players come through and a lot of these players get to reap what alumni have done. This senior class is special and you saw it with Clare and the game-winning goal. They double- and triple-team her and she still comes up big.
“I’m proud of all the girls. We’ve got the best goalie in the state and that helps. We’re resilient, we’re intentional in how we play and it showed today. I’m proud of them.”
The historic win sends Plymouth Christian (16-3-3) into the Division 4 state semifinal where it will face Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett at Waterford Kettering at 6 p.m. June 11.
“It’s just unreal,” Binder said. “Our seniors over the past four years — we’ve never made it this far. Like Ryan (Thomason) said, it’s history. It’s just so many practices and long hours on the field, all the work that we put in has led to this moment and we just couldn’t be more excited.
“We’re so excited for the game next week and to see how far we can get.”
Binder capitalized on an opportunity in the middle stages of the second half to score the decisive goal. She found the back of the net with 27:10 to play while taking advantage of a Laingsburg breakdown.
That goal was a moment the Eagles figured would eventually come after some missed opportunities in the first half.
“We knew we would get that moment where we would break the back line and if Clare is in alone she’s going to score,” Thomason said. “That was the game plan. It took us a while. The first half we dominated and just couldn’t get it in. (That’s) resiliency again. The girls just don’t give up. They keep fighting. They know what the game plan is and they execute.”
Plymouth Christian made that goal stand and thwarted an opportunity by Laingsburg in the final 25 seconds while closing out the win. It took a diving save by Michalak to deny a strong opportunity for Laingsburg before time eventually expired.
“She’s the best keeper in the state in our opinion,” Binder said. “She’s made so many brilliant saves like that. It was kind of a defensive breakdown but she just is so clutch in so many moments like that and just coming through for us and she saved us the game right there. We just have ultimate faith in her and she’s great.”
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Plymouth Christian girls soccer makes history with first regional title
Reporting by Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
