Houghton’s Lewis Vendlinski (25) loks to beat out Cheboygan’s Hayden Wheelock (9) at a district playoff dage in Houghton on Thursday.

By Eddie O’Neill

eoneill@mininggazette.com

HOUGHTON- History was made on the Houghton High School soccer pitch on Thursday as the Gremlins hosted and won their first-ever MHSSA (Division 3 District 33) district tournament soccer game. They defeated the Cheboygan Chiefs 9-0. The game ended after the first half due to the eight-point mercy rule. The Gremlins scored early and often much to the delight of their coach Mark Lounibos.

“We took care of business,” he said. “We knew that we were a better team on paper, but we took the game seriously and played hard and played well. We had a lot of assists. As well, ball movement is something I have been emphasizing. So that was good to see.”

Good ball movement led to two hat tricks. Ethan Heckel and Oliver Pap both had three goals each.

The scoring started with less than two minutes into the game as Josh Bennett put a penalty kick past the Chiefs’ keeper. Less than three minutes later Heckel had his first two goals and at the 35-minute mark, the Gremlins led 4-0 thanks to Pap finding the back of the net for his first.

While Pap went on the score goals six and seven, Caleb Wiitanen put in goal number eight and Henry Lounibos found the net for number nine at the 11:18 mark.

“The more we can spread the wealth and make movements into space and pass the ball the better we are going to be down the road,” added coach Lounibos.

Cheboygan coach Bob Miller said that he and his young squad knew what they were getting into as they travelled North on Thursday to face a more experienced Houghton team.

“It has been a challenging year for us,” he said. “We just don’t have the numbers or the experience. We played some games with just 10 players. However, despite the challenges, these guys have never given up. They have big hearts and want to get better. Our future is bright with the number of freshmen we have as they continue to play together.”

UP NEXT

The Gremlins will head down state on Monday for a MHSSA Division 3 District 33 semifinal game against Grayling in Grayling, MI on Tuesday.

“We have not played them, but they lost to Marquette, and we lost and tied with Marquette. So, we have that common opponent between us,” said Lounibos. “Hopefully we can bring home a victory.”