Suttons Bay soccer is hitting the pitch with plenty of new and old faces wanting to make noise in the Northwest Conference this season The Norsemen will be replacing several seniors producers with new faces, even freshman, expecting to compete for starting positions on the pitch.
“We got a really talented group coming in at our freshman group. We have some folks that are coming out at some of our older age groups that we haven’t seen in a while ... it’s going to be fun,” Suttons Bay coach Len Mankowski said. “We’re going to be solid.”
Suttons Bay will have to replace Finn Mankowski, one of the best players in Suttons Bay soccer history, who scored 36 goals in 2023. The Norsemen will also have to replace goalkeeper Dominic Whetter who saved 104 shots in 2023.
The style of play for this Suttons Bay team will change from aggressive, offensive approach to a defensive approach. Suttons Bay junior Julian Garcia will be relied upon as a spark for the offense.
“We’re getting back to fundamentals. This year we’re going to start with a good emphasis on defense,” Mankowski said.
The Norsmen will be returning plenty of firepower including senior defender Connor Sahs who’s coming back from injury.
“It feels great to be back. It was really boring over the winter,” Sahs said. “The new guys are gonna have to start learning the way, a lot of them are just getting out of middle school, so they don’t really know exactly what they’re doing yet, but they’re learning quickly ... I’m talking to all of them, making sure they know what is going on.”
Sahs says the team goal this year is to make it out of districts and compete for a Northwest Conference Championship.
Suttons Bay and Lake Leelanau St. Mary join together forces for the cooperative athletic team.
St. Mary sophomore James Bunek has grown six inches from last year and is expected to contribute, along with several other Eagles turned Norsemen for the fall season.
“It’s gonna be a new game I told (Bunek), you’re going from playing small, now you’re all of a sudden you gotta play big. It’s different,” Mankowski said.
Isaac Martin is returning with a lot of success from his summer travel team Northstorm.
Suttons Bay lost to powerhouse Grandville Calvin 8-0 on Saturday to start the season. The Norsemen did bounce back in a win against Manistee on Monday.
Suttons Bay had the biggest upset of 2023, when the Norsemen beat Leland 2-1 on the road. Leland would get their revenge in the district on their way to the MHSAA Div. 4 soccer semifinals.
