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Jewish members of the Roeper boys soccer team: Ben Goldberg,
Ben Katzman, Adam Alpert, Noah Gilman and Adam Kochanowski.
A 1st
For Roerw
Steve Stein
Contributing Writer
H
istory
was made this fall at
Roeper School in Bloomfield
Hills.
For the first time in the school's 75-year
history, a team won a Michigan High
School Athletic Association state cham-
pionship.
The boys soccer team — with five
Jewish players on the roster — made the
breakthrough.
It came in a 4-2 victory over Grand
Rapids Covenant Christian on Nov. 1 in
the Division 4 state championship game
at East Kentwood.
While the victory was exhilarating for
Roeper, it was excruciating for Covenant
Christian, which has now played in three
consecutive Division 4 state title games
and lost them all.
Roeper finished 23-1, losing only an
early-season 7-6 game to Grosse Pointe
University Liggett.
The Roughriders avenged the loss in
a regional championship game, beating
Liggett 3-1 in overtime. It was one of
Roeper's seven post-season wins.
Like all of Roeper's teams, nobody
is cut from the boys soccer team. That
means everyone who came out for boys
soccer and stuck with it this fall got to
experience the thrill of a lifetime.
There were 20 boys on the team
including 10 seniors.
"Our philosophy at Roeper is everyone
is valued, and can learn about something
if they have an interest in it," said 17th-
year boys soccer coach Ed Sack
Here's what Sack had to say about the
Jewish players on his team:
Senior defender Adam Alpert rarely
came off the field and had the job each
game of neutralizing the opposing team's
top offensive threat.
Senior midfielder Adam Kochanowski
was named bench captain by his team-
mates because of his enthusiasm from the
sidelines.
Junior defender Ben Katzman "worked
so hard in practice that he wrecked our
drills," Sack said.
Junior midfielder Ben Goldberg scored
a memorable regular-season goal against
Southfield Christian, hammering home a
shot off a corner kick
Junior midfielder Noah Gilman got
Roeper off and running in its district
opener against Southfield Christian,
assisting on the first goal in a 6-1 win.
Roeper has a proud tradition in boys
soccer.
This was the fourth time a team
coached by Sack made it to at least
the state semifinals. Most recently, the
Roughriders were 19-5 in 2013 and lost in
the semifinals to eventual state champion
Lansing Christian.
Asked what it meant to win a state
championship and make school his-
tory, the Jewish players offered varying
insights.
"It was so cool to see all the Facebook
and Twitter posts from alumni," Gilman
said.
"It was a crazy feeling knowing so
many members of the Roeper com-
munity, past and present, were affected,"
Kochanowski said.
"It was amazing bringing the whole
school together but we just did what we
do best ... play soccer," Alpert said.
"I'm glad we made the season some-
thing to remember for a long time,"
Goldberg said.
"It felt great to bring a state champion-
ship to a deserving school," Katzman said.
Why were the Roughriders so good?
"We worked hard," Gilman said. "Plus,
we all knew what we wanted to do when
the season started and we did it. Even
those who didn't see the field as much
helped in any way they could:'
"We pushed each other at practice to be
better every day:' Goldberg said.
"We could score, which took the pres-
sure off our defense:' Kochanowski said.
"We played as a team and stayed
focused the whole season," Katzman said.
"Everyone accepted their roles," Alpert
said.
Alpert is the son of Robert and Catrina
Alpert of Farmington Hills; Gilman is
the son of Gerald and Susan Gilman of
Bloomfield Hills; Goldberg is the son
of Andrew and Laura Goldberg of West
Bloomfield; Katzman is the son of Daniel
and Lisa Katzman of Bloomfield Hills;
and Kochanowski is the son of Andrew
and Lisa Kochanowski of Bloomfield.
The team was honored last week at a
pep rally at Roeper's Community Center
in Bloomfield Hills.
❑
Send news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com .
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November 20 • 2014
53