DEARBORN >> Divine Child Catholic High School played host to two of the state’s best in a Division 2 girls’ soccer regional championship on Friday as New Boston Huron Chiefs battlefield Farmington Hills Mercy.

For Huron, it was their first appearance in the regional final round of the state tournament since 2021. Mercy meanwhile last made it this far in 1990, which was also the only other time they won such a title in the sport.

A strong late-season push from the Marlins came to an end on this Friday night as No. 4-ranked Huron found themselves winning their first regional title in school history, taking down the Marlins by a final score of 3-0.

“We work so hard,” Huron head coach Matt Lividini said. “We were expecting Marian, but (Mercy) took care of them, and our girls treated Mercy like they were Marian. We put the hammer down.

“For 80 minutes, they didn’t stop,” Livdini continued. “And I was just sitting back and enjoying watching them play.” Opening the game, it was all Mercy, who made a strong push to get the opening marker. The Marlins put pressure on the Huron back line through their forwards Arielle Etue and Izzy Van Hoof.

The Chiefs, however, stood tall to keep the game scoreless before eventually turning defense into offense.

A great defensive play turned into a breakout through pass from Gabriella Emelian to Rylie Cassette, who broke through the Mercy back line and put one in the net. That put the Chiefs 1-0 with 20:27 remaining in the half.

The rest of the opening 40 minutes saw good back-and-forth action. But right before the buzzer sounded for the halftime break, Huron struck again.

This time, it was a corner kick that was struck into the box and found Addison Dolencic, who headed it into the back of the net, doubling the Chiefs’ lead going into halftime.

“There is so much talent on this team,” Lividini said. “Normally, there is a weakness, but this team is so talented and powerful. I can go to my bench and it is still super powerful, it just makes my job more of a cheerleader than anything.”

In the second half, the game was dominated by Huron, who like Mercy in the early stages of Friday’s title game kept the pressure up. It paid off for a third time when Miley Skamiera connected with Avery Turk on a pass in stride.

Turk hammered it home to finish off the game’s scoring.

“This Huron team was really strong,” Mercy head coach Tom James said. “We watched a lot of video of them, and knew they would be good, but they had so much speed and attack that we couldn’t keep up with it in the end.

Kudos to them, great team,” James added. “I am really proud of how hard my girls fought.”

Huron’s Cassette talked about the program’s journey of returning to the regional title game, a journey that started four years ago.

“My freshman year we made it here and lost,” Cassette said. “Ever since, it has been that we need to make it past this. (Lividini) has made the whole season about this, and I thank him for that.

“We have worked so hard to get here and win,” Cassette added. “Countless hours of practice, it is so well-deserved.”

The loss puts an end to the season for Mercy (9-6-6), one that was successful and record-breaking.

Friday’s game for the Marlins was the latest without the services of a key starter after the school self-reported said player being deemed ineligible, leading to a three-game suspension.

“We lost our goalkeeper, and we rallied around that,” James said. “We made it this far for the first time in 35 years. We are so happy to be here and we hope this is a trend going forward.

“We have had some recent success and we are looking to build on that.”

UP NEXT

As for Huron (20-1-1), their playoff quest continues when they face DeWitt in the D2 state semifinals, which will take place on Tuesday, June 10 at Kettering High School in Waterford.

Lividini talked about what the biggest goals will be for his team as they venture into uncharted waters as a program.

“We just have to do the same thing we have been doing,” Lividini said. “It may be boring, but it is business as usual. Treat this like work.

Every single 80 minutes, put the work in,” Lividini continued. “That is 20 straight wins doing what we do, so keep the business going as usual. They get to reap the benefits of doing the work.”

Cassette echoed a lot of her coach’s sentiments in what the players need to do to keep their playoff run going.

“We have to execute, and we have to play like we did today and just calm down,” Cassette explained. “Play as a team, trust each other and be confident. If we play scared, there is not really a point.”