Howie Kropp had more than a little help on the winning goal.
Kropp drilled the game-winning penalty kick as Leland won 2-1 in Saturday’s Division 4 boys soccer state championship at Grand Ledge Community Stadium.
Kropp played goalie for three years, moving to the field for the first time this season. It was his first PK taken in competition and first goal of the season.
“I had a lot of faith,” Kropp said. “Had a lot of faith. My dad, he’s up there, and I knew he’d take over if I just put the ball on the ground.”
Kropp’s father Chris passed away when he was 8 years old. Chris coached Howie in soccer up to that point, and Howie took that with him to the PK line while securing Leland’s first state championship since 2018.
“I really let myself go,” Kropp said. “I know he helped me put in the back of the net. I’m forever grateful for that, getting to share this moment with the people I love. These are my brothers. ... It meant the world to me, and I owe it all my mom and all the fans out there.”
Leland took a 1-0 lead after the first shootout round after a successful conversion by senior Nano Creamer and a diving save by senior keeper Ravello Smith.
Leland’s Weston Burda and Liggett’s Ollie Cooley traded conversions, and Liggett tied the shootout at 2-2 on a goal by Brady Ancona after Eli Ulbrich went high on his second attempt. Ulbrich buried his first, but the referee hadn’t blown his whistle, so it didn’t count.
Leland went up 3-2 in the fourth round with a goal to the left by senior Adrian Spencer and another save by Smith, which set up Kropp’s title-clinching shot.
“I was kind of just taking deep breaths and letting the emotions kind of flow out of me,” Kropp said. “ I really just had a lot of faith. That was it. As I was walking down, someone said, ‘If he makes it, we win, right?’ ‘Yeah.’ So there was that, too. When I scored, I didn’t even know what to do.”
He started running toward the spectator section, then swerved back and into the corner of the field by Leland’s bench, where a dogpile quickly convened.
It’s the first state championship to go to a shootout since the finals moved to Grand Ledge three years ago. It’s the first final in any class to go to penalty kicks since 2019 and the first in Division 4 to do so.
Spencer put the Comets up in the 16th minute, drilling a line drive into the right corner to finish off a run by Jose Roman.
“That was a great run down the line,” Spencer said of Roman’s assist. “He crossed it back, just like we practice all the time, and it worked. Hard work pays off.”
Liggett knotted up the game 1-1 on Sekou Manneh’s goal off a free kick play 5:55 before halftime.
The teams played fairly evenly the rest of the way, with Smith ending overtime with six saves and counterpart Ravi Hines four.
A couple first-half yellow cards blunted Leland‘s previous aggressiveness that helped them control much of the first half.
Spencer ended up scoring in all seven Comets postseason wins, entering the postseason with a single-digit goal total.
That’s similar to Leland’s ascension. The Comets were 9-8-2 entering the playoffs, playing a rigorous schedule that included eight top-10-ranked opponents.
Leland won the 2018 title under Joe Burda, with Rob Sirrine as an assistant coach. Since then, the Comets have had several heart-breaking semifinals and regional final setbacks.
“That team was just extraordinary,” said Sirrine, now Leland’s head coach and a 1992 Traverse City Central grad. “We just rolled everyone the whole season. But this team, we had to work through things. I told the guys to trust the process, and it took a little while. Our record wasn’t great, but we kept playing better and better teams, kind of taking from (Muskegon) WMC. That’s what they do all the time, every year. It lets you know where the holes are in your team, and you can patch them. The perseverance, the resilience of these guys, the seniors especially, just brought everyone together.”
Leland scored with 3 minutes left to beat Liggett in their regular-season matchup a month ago.
“Congrats, boys,” Liggett coach David Dwaihy said as he walked by Comets players doing postgame interviews. “Well done. We’ll see you again next year.”
That could very well happen, too. The Knights boast a fairly young roster, with a good number of freshman and sophomore contributors to the final run.
“Dave ... he’s a cool guy,” Sirrine said. “He used to coach my kids in camp, and we will go down and play them and go to a DCFC game. He buys his tickets for us. They’re just a quality program, class players and a class coach. It’s nice to have a final against a team like that.”
