Girls soccer notebook: Almont eyes league title; Armada making final adjustments

ARMADA — As the calendar turns to May, intensity turns up in the MHSAA girls soccer season. Just three weeks remain before the 2024 district tournaments begin May 22.

Time is running out, but there's still a lot to be decided in the Blue Water Area Conference. Here's a look at where two of its teams stand.

Almont aims to end conference title drought

Despite 35 wins and one district championship in the last three seasons, the Raiders haven't won the BWAC since 2018.

This year, they're making up for lost time.

Almont is 10-3-0 overall and 9-0-0 in the BWAC entering Friday. That conference record puts the club in first place ahead of Richmond (7-1-0) and Armada (6-3-0).

"We are super young," Almont coach Mike Kepler said. "Our starting lineup, right now, consists of three juniors, four sophomores and a handful of freshmen. But they're a very talented team and very skilled."

MORE: 15 girls soccer players to watch in the Blue Water Area this season

And the Tigers have been unstoppable in league play, outscoring BWAC opponents, 58-4. Seven of their nine conference victories have been shutouts.

"We're learning to work together and grow as a team," junior center mid Tara Tencza said. "We have a lot of young players, so it was hard for us after first. But we're all learning how we fit in together as a team."

"The chemistry is definietely getting there," junior center back Avery Peake said. "Every practice, every team dinner, I think we're definietely getting closer as a team."

Almont's 61 goals have come from 10 different players, five of which have scored at least five in Lola Battaglia (23), Callie McCarthy (10), Avery Peake (nine), Jesse Kautz (five) and Natalia Radisavljevic (five).

"I hope we win districts this year," Battaglia said. "Because last year, we were really close but came up a little short. So I hope we can accomplish that."

"The biggest thing is just keeping our heads on straight," Kepler said. "Showing up — no matter who our opponent is — getting ready and preparing the same way every game. (Our preparation) has to be consistent.

"It's a work in progress. But I like our chances and what we'll look like come first round of districts."

Armada focused on 'minimizing mistakes'

For what it's worth, the Tigers are the only BWAC team to score against Almont this year. Heck, they nearly pulled off an upset in the season opener before falling to the Raiders, 3-2, on April 3.

"We've got a lot of good pieces," Armada coach Neal Todd said. "We do struggle scoring the ball. So, we've got just to finish on the chances we get. And, like I told (our players), minimizing mistakes in the back and we'll be fine. We've got a good team."

Armada is 6-3-0 overall and in league play entering Friday. The third-place Tigers are scoring 4.3 goals per game while allowing just 2.3.

"We're always communicating on the field really well," senior defender Maleah Shalvis said. "Even if we're struggling, we never fail to communicate. I really like that about our team."

"We pass the ball well," junior forward Ashlyn Upton said. "Just by working as a team to get the ball down the field."

Both players excel individually at their own ends of the field. Upton has a team-high 11 goals and 10 assists this season. Shalvis, who has two goals of her own, anchors a defense that's recorded three shutouts.

"(Shalvis) goes really hard to the ball," Todd said. "She's a senior captain and does exactly what we're trying to do here ... (Upton) is another really hard worker. She's just tenacious going after the ball."

Added Todd: "A lot of our girls do really well. There's just a couple little things that we miss out on and they cost us a bit."

As Armada knows, those things prove costly this time of year.

"Defensively, we want to minimize mistakes," Todd said. "We really need to work on playing (opponents) to their less-dominant foot. I think we let them play to their dominant foot too often ... and then finishing (offensively). We get chances in front of the goal and you've just got to put those in. So just more of that. We don't need to crank every ball, we just need to push it in the corner."

Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Girls soccer: Almont eyes league title; Armada makes adjustments