Nouvel holds off Hemlock to earn shot at soccer regional title

MONTROSE, MI – After giving up back-to-back goals in less than a minute and losing a goalkeeper with a rib injury, Hemlock did what came naturally.

Work harder.

Nouvel Catholic Central, however, had enough to hold off the Huskies, claiming a 3-1 win over Hemlock in a Division 4 regional semifinal Tuesday at Montrose.

"They never quit," Nouvel coach Matt Solek said. "We’ve played them twice, and we knew what to expect. When we got those two quick goals, I started to worry. "

Nouvel takes a 15-4-1 record into Friday's 6 p.m. regional championship at Montrose against Clarkston Everest, an 8-0 winner over New Haven Merritt in the other semifinal.

The Nouvel win gives the Panthers a 2-1 edge over Hemlock during the season, with Hemlock winning the first game, 2-1, and Nouvel taking the second, 4-3.

"We scored the first goal in the first game – it was our first game after spring break – and Hemlock came back to score two," Solek said. "In the second game, we were up 4-1 and they scored two goals in three minutes at the end.

"After the second goal today, they had the injury, and it felt like we lost a lot of our momentum."

Lydia Jacobs gave Nouvel a 1-0 lead at the 28:23 mark of the first half, with Emilee Rosenberg adding a second goal less than a minute later. On the play, Hemlock goalkeeper Avery Ross hit her ribs on the post and left the game.

"She either bruised or broke her ribs … she was in a lot of pain," Hemlock coach Joe Wardlow said. "It was a huge deal for us. Avery is one of our best players … handling the ball, passing, dribbling. We’re able to take her out of goal when we need to and use her in the field toward end of games if we’re trailing.

"Nouvel is more polished than we are, but I think we have more depth. But losing Avery hurt our depth, especially at the end when we would have used her to push the ball. It took away our ability to take advantage of our depth."

Maddie Wenzel took over in goal and kept Nouvel off the board, leaving Hemlock with a 2-0 halftime deficit.

But the Huskies cut the lead to 2-1 with 37:01 left in the game on a Logan Clayton goal. Hemlock also hit a post at 23:10 that could have tied the game.

"No. 11 (Izzy Currie) is a very good player, handling the ball, wins every 50-50 ball," Solek said. "We doubled her when we got the two-goal lead."

Rosenberg gave Nouvel a 3-1 lead with her second goal of the match, and the Panthers held off Hemlock in the final 7:40 for the win.

Hemlock finishes with a 14-5-2 record.

"In all of our games against Nouvel, they scored first but we came back," Wardlow said. "We have depth and players who don't give up. They play the entire game. I think the big part is that they play for each other. They’re also multi-sport athletes who love to compete.

"And it's also our seventh straight year being all-academic. Our team GPA is 3.5. You add all that up and it's a special group of players. They play for each other, not playing for a win, not playing for your school, playing for each other and not letting each other down. These players do that every day. They do not quit on you."

Nouvel heads to the regional final for the first time since 2019, when the Panthers beat Marine City Cardinal Mooney for a Division 4 regional championship.

If the Panthers win, they advance to the Division 4 semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, at Troy Athens against the winner of the regional final between Jackson Lumen Christi and Grosse Pointe Woods University-Liggett.

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