East Lansing advances to the state tournament for the third time in four years after defeating Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 1-0, Thursday night at Mount Pleasant High School.
MOUNT PLEASANT – Sabri Fair didn’t get to be a part of the East Lansing varsity soccer team at its height.
In 2014, when the Trojans hoisted their second straight Division 2 state championship, Fair, then a sophomore, was on junior varsity, patiently waiting his turn to one day add his own building block to the powerhouse soccer program.
That day came Thursday night.
Fair, who first attended East Lansing High School as a sophomore, scored the lone goal for the No. 1-ranked Trojans in their 1-0 victory over No. 6-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern in a regional championship game at Mount Pleasant High School.
East Lansing, which has now qualified for the state tournament three of the past four years, will face No. 11 Mattawan in the state semifinals Nov. 2 at Grand Rapids Christian High School.
“It felt so good to have the stress release and go over to my teammates and fans,” said Fair, who grabbed just his second goal of the season Thursday. “We all know that feeling from last year, and we had no intention of losing again.”
The Trojans’ season was ended in the regional final last season by the Huskies. Forest Hills Northern shut down East Lansing’s state-title streak by grabbing a 4-3, penalty-kick shootout victory.
Quinton Hay was the player who was unable to score on his penalty-kick opportunity last year – the Trojans lost the shootout, 5-4 – and he was looking forward to the opportunity to avenge the season-ending defeat.
“I know it’s a team sport, and we had our chances throughout the game, but to be the one that missed it (last year), it’s not the best feeling,” said Hay, who was on the 2014 championship team as a sophomore. “I knew we would have a strong chance at winning it, and I just wanted to come out and win this game.
“We were freshmen when (EL) won the first state title, and sophomores when they won the second. … The brand of success that East Lansing soccer has, we just wanted to make our mark.”
Early in the second half, after a back and forth opening 40 minutes, Fair ripped a shot from 25 yards out that squeezed between the crossbar and the outstretched arm of the Huskies’ goalkeeper.
East Lansing, unlike the final 10 minutes of the first half, were the aggressors for most of the second half. Before Fair’s goal, Hay missed a shot just wide of the goal. And with five minutes remaining, after a pass from Sam Lebbie, Hay had a one-on-one with the keeper, but he was able to make a leg save.
Trojan senior Josh Wolfinger, who scored both of his team’s goals in the regional semifinal, said his side felt it had to be more aggressive with its attack in the final 40 minutes.
“At the start of the half, we were anxious to get a goal. We had the fire inside of us,” the senior captain said. “But after Sabri’s goal we just played lock down, played the corners and kept it away from them.”
Contact James L. Edwards III at jledwards@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @JLEdwardsIII.