MONTAGUE — Several years ago, Montague senior Lucas Husband would come to the Wildcats' home field to watch brother Robbie play varsity soccer, and when he faced high-caliber opponents, more often than not the results were not pretty.
Now, Husband is part of a group of Wildcats that have changed that script forever, winning their first ever district championship by beating Fremont 1-0 Wednesday night.
"I'd watch him get (mercy-ruled) by
Whitehall and all these other teams that we took care of this year," Husband said of his brother. "For
it to be my senior year and for it to be with these boys who I've
played with my whole life, it means the world to me. I'm so happy."
The atmosphere among the Wildcats (17-5) and the crowd made clear how much it meant. With Husband the emotional center of the team - he exhorted the crowd to get louder numerous times - the 'Cats kept pushing long after it seemed like Fremont was running low on fuel.
Perhaps that extra energy is why Montague was able to get on the board in the 71st minute of play. Trevor Trevino, who draws so much defensive attention, managed to find a one-on-one matchup as the 'Cats moved down the field and got enough space to fire from one side of the net to the other, beating the Packer keeper.
"We knew we could get those balls in there," Montague coach Brandon Mahoney said. "We watched
the Fremont film (from the regular season), where they beat us...We knew Trevor could get that
angle. We've watched
him score from that deep tight angle that a lot of people will be like,
'There's no way he's scoring.' We were hopeful that he just
kept driving in. He kept his head about him and everybody stayed
positive."
Even after a scoreless first half, the Wildcats felt great about where they were because they'd had better scoring chances. Javari Aldridge's late first-half shot in particular required a diving save by Fremont keeper Caleb Vissia, and a later shot by Isaiah Towne sailed just over the crossbar.
"You get two or three breakaways
in that first half and you don't finish one of them or the person
crashing isn't there, and you can get frustrated," Mahoney said. "But the
boys didn't. They stayed positive. The bench was completely hyped,
The crowd was amazing tonight. I couldn't ask for a more
perfect night."
Despite the high energy and the emotions - Montague played with a borderline reckless ambivalence to their own safety at times and drew a couple of late yellow cards as a result - the Wildcats, on the field, seemed to consistently make the right plays. The game was not too fast to fluster them even in the most stressful of situations - even, in fact, when Husband had to come in for keeper Robby Smith twice. Once Smith drew a card, and another time he briefly had to leave after getting collided with on a save.
"We had experience winning these big games," Husband said by way of explanation. "Early on (this season), we
came back against Shelby in the last 10 minutes. We beat Whitehall. We
had a nail-biter with Oakridge. We have experience with this. We know
what to do."
Husband even made a save when Fremont was awarded a free kick following Smith's card, drawing celebratory yells and a bear hug from Smith when he reentered the game.
Smith has drawn plaudits all year from his teammates and coaches, but recording a shutout in the district final was his magnum opus.
"To have Robby come out as a senior, never played keeper, not played soccer
since he was six and performed the way he has performed this
season, it is the reason we've had so many wins and so many shutouts," Mahoney said. "He's a phenomenal athlete. He's put so much work into that
position."
The Wildcats' reward is a Tuesday night trip to Clare for a regional game against either No. 4-ranked Kingsford or Grayling, who play in a district final Saturday.
"Is that right?" Husband said with a wide grin. "That sounds good. I like it."
