After the Norsemen flag had been ceremoniously marched across the soccer field, and parents hugged sons and players hugged players, coach Randy U'Ren huddled his squad out of the lights behind their dugout.

FANS AND PLAYERS from Suttons Bay celebrate
their 1-0 win over North Muskegon Tuesday night.

The Norsemen had just eliminated favored North Muskegon from the Regional, 1-0, in a game of wills between two established soccer programs.

"You played the best game of your career, and you did it with class," U'Ren said.
Indeed, Suttons Bay has come a long way in a year, regardless of the outcome of a Regional final game tonight against a Lincoln Alcona team coached by one of U'Ren's teammates at Alma College.

In 2006, the Norsemen placed second twice to Traverse City Christian, once in the Cherryland Conference and again in the District final.

"We didn't have as good of team chemistry," said Shane MacDonald, the team's second-leading scorer, recalling the District final loss. "We had six yellow cards. We basically imploded in that game. We were always yelling at the refs."

On Tuesday, it was North Muskegon that imploded, finishing the game with yellow cards and warnings after players talked back at the refs. One player was ejected.

U'Ren seemed as much impressed with how his squad won as with the win itself. He said later: "As a team, they were a little more faster and prepared than us. But our guys kept believing in our system and in each other."

Eventually, the quicker North Muskegon Norsemen (the teams share the same nickname) became frustrated — and Suttons Bay was ready to pounce.

Credit freshman goalie Jared Orban with starting the turnaround. Neither team seemed to hold an advantage as they probed for weaknesses in the first half, but North Muskegon came out from halftime energized.

"For a stretch, North Muskegon was taking it too us," said U'Ren.

Soon Orban was being tested, with back-to-back shots that required spread-out saves. The second shot was so close that a North Muskegon player raised his hands to indicate a goal.

Not so. And although both teams were tired, North Muskegon was running out of gas.
Suttons Bay switched to offense when Danny Holmes provided a break-away kick that was moved to the middle of the field by Connor Ott with about nine minutes to play.

Jason McKisson was waiting. He put the ball down, split two defenders and left no doubt that momentum had changed with his 12th goal of the season.

"I was surprised how it opened up," said McKisson after the game while accepting congratulations from players and fans. "It was one of my biggest goals."

From there, McKisson and fellow center midfielder Ryan Gardner kept North Muskegon off balance, with Blaine Fritz eating up large chunks of the clock with his ball control.

U'Ren said he could not credit one or two players for the win.

"It was one of those complete team efforts. Everyone who played, played with all their talents," said U'Ren.

His squad improved to 20-5-1 overall, with Alcona coached by Jim Bouchard on tap at 7 tonight on the Norsemen field.

Bouchard as an Alma College senior — the year after U'Ren, now an optometrist in Suttons Bay, had graduated — led the Scots to a "final four" appearance in Division III soccer. The previous two years, U'Ren and Bouchard played on squads that captured MIAA titles and earned berths in NCAA tournaments.

"That will be a little extra motivation to win one," said U'Ren.

On paper, North Muskegon with its three foreign exchange students was probably better than Suttons Bay, and Suttons Bay is probably better than Alcona, U'Ren said.
He does not expect a letdown, comparing the Regional to Suttons Bay's District run that started with a narrow win over Leland.

"We got that first win and didn't let down, and now we know we can't let down against Alcona," said U'Ren.

Another win would mean a Regional title and the second Division IV final four appearance in three years for the Norsemen. The likely semifinal opponent on Halloween would be No. 1-rated West Michigan Christian. The match will be played in Holton.