Dexter High School Soccer Team Makes National 'Top 26' List for Best Human Interest Story

Buzzfeed.com picks the top stories around the country that restore faith in humanity.

The Dexter High School soccer team received national recognition this week from Buzzfeed.com. The online news blog spotlighted the team's Oct. 5 game, when coaches and players surprised team manager Greg Zenas, a Dexter senior with Down syndrome. Coach Scott Forrester allowed Zenas to play part of the game for senior night, helping the team win 4-0 against Adrian High School. The story "restored our faith in humanity" the staff of Buzzfeed wrote. Click here to see the top 26 stories of 2012.

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Dexter's Path to State Final Ends in Heartbreaker Loss Against Hudsonville

The boys' varsity soccer team lost 1-0 to Hudsonville Unity Christian in state semi-finals on Wednesday.

By Alex Hardie Despite a hard-fought match on Halloween, Hudsonville Unity Christian beat Dexter 1-0 in a Division 2 state semifinal to give the Crusaders their second consecutive state final playoff berth. Dexter began the game with some good possession of the ball and pressure on Unity’s end of the field in the first 10 minutes of play. Unity then evened up the possession for the middle portion of the half, with the Dreads finishing with better attacking chances in the last 10 minutse before the half-time break. “Unity’s No. 7 player gave us some problems with his runs forward with the ball. We made some adjustments in the second half which limited this, unfortunately it allowed them to find one of their wide midfielders with a pass that…

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Dexter Boys' Soccer Team Downs Mason 2-0 in State Playoffs

Two goals at the end of each half help advance Dexter to the state semi-finals.

By Alex Hardie The Dexter boys' varsity soccer team earned its way into the state semi-finals with a hard-fought win over the fifth ranked Bulldogs from Mason on Thursday. Both goals came within a minute and a half of the end of each half. Mason had a quicker start than the Dreads, but couldn’t find a way to score an early goal. As time ticked off the clock, Dexter gained more possession of the ball and mounted some attacking thrusts forward. Mason continued to control most of the play but couldn’t create any dangerous scoring threats. With 1:40 left in the first half, the Dreads struck for their first goal when Max Amann took a miss-cleared ball and fired it through the crowded penalty box for the goal. In the second half, the Bulldogs …

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Dexter Defeats Marshall 2-0 in Division 2 Boys Soccer Regional Semifinal

The Dreadnaughts defense kept Marshall away from the team's goal for most of the game on Tuesday.

VICKSBURG — The Dexter boys' varsity soccer team came away with a big win against Marshall on Tuesday. A goal by Bobby Toth just before halftime put the Dreadnaughts (18-5-3) on the scoreboard first, according to MLive. The momentum carried Dexter into the second half, as Dexter's defense kept Marshall from scoring. “Marshall came in with a good strategy to prevent us from playing a lit bit of our attacking style,” Dexter coach Scott Forrester told MLive. “I think we should've possessed the ball a little bit more at the midfield, but in the end we did create a lot of opportunities." With the win, Dexter advances to its first regional championship game against Mason (20-3-1) on Thursday. Read more about the story on MLive.

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Dexter Wins Seventh District Title in Nine Years

The Dreadnaught varsity soccer team defeated South Lyon East 2-1 on Oct. 20.

By Alex Hardie In a hard fought match, the Dexter Dreadnaughts defeated the South Lyon East Cougars 2-1 on Oct. 20. Dexter found itself down 1-0 at the half time break but midway through the second half Max Aman scored twice for the Dreadnaughts. With less than six minutes left in the first half, South Lyon took advantage of some poor defending and scored with 5:32 on the clock. The second half started much like the first half with both teams having good ball possession.  Dexter continued to attack the Cougar defense but to no avail. “South Lyon began to feel the pressure and lost their composure,” said Dexter coach Scott Forrester. Finally a foul was called against the Cougars 24 yards from their goal. Amann stepped up for the free kick …

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Dexter Defeats Tecumseh 4-0 in District Semi-Final

The Dreadnaught varsity soccer team is one game away from district champions, and will face South Lyon on Saturday.

By Alex Hardie Facing the Tecumseh Indians in district semi-final play on Wednesday, the Dexter varsity soccer team rallied to post a 4-0 shutout. Both teams shared possession of the ball throughout the game, with Dexter's offense keeping pace for the Dreadnaughts. Keeper Rhys Moller was pressed into a couple of nice saves to keep the Indians from scoring. Dexter scored first on a bending ball in that went over the outstretched Tecumseh keeper’s hands and banked in off the far post into the Indian goal. Carrying the 1-0 lead, David Innis served a ball in from the flank that was miss-played by an Indian defender into the net, with 30:08 on the clock. Sixteen minutes left in the game, forward Andrew Foghel stole the ball and fired it in for …

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Dreadnaughts Dominate In District Opener

The Dexter High School varsity soccer team defeated Tecumseh 9-1 in district play on Monday.

By Alex Hardie Traveling to face the Adrian Maples in district play on Monday, the Dexter varsity soccer team established itself, winning 9-1. Though it wasn’t until just over 15 minutes into the game that Dexter scored their first goal, they dominated play throughout the whole game. Jake Kilian picked up a rebound from a shot and fired it past the Maple keeper to set the tone. Another 15 minutes without a goal, Andrew Foghel scored one of his two goals when Kilian passed the ball through a gap in the defense, to go up 2-0. Minutes later, David Innis received a diagonal pass from Evan Burke, and buried it in the goal. With nine minutes left in the half, Tony Pisto took a long free-kick that Cory Poirier deflected into Burke for the next …

Dexter Soccer Team Ties Chelsea 1-1 in Final Regular Season Game

The team will face Adrian High School during the first round of district play-offs on Monday.

By Alex Hardie Closing out the regular season on the road and looking to avenge an early season loss to the Chelsea Bulldogs, Dexter's varsity soccer team did not find satisfaction on Oct. 11. Fans from both sides of the stands were treated to an entertaining, competitive evening that rewarded both teams a 1-1 tie. With about six minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs were awarded an indirect free kick due to a high kick that was deemed dangerous. The ensuing kick was well defended as it was shot into the wall. The rebound went to Chelsea for a strike past Dread keeper Rhys Moller that was deflected on the way in. Down 1-0, Dexter responded with a piercing kick by Nils Valdmanis that Jake Kilian connected with, and finished for the …

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Dexter Soccer Team Surprises Down Syndrome Student on Senior Night

Greg Zenas, the team's six-year manager, laced up and played half of the game against Adrian on Oct. 5.

By Alex Hardie On the brand new artificial turf field, the Dexter High School varsity soccer team won 4-0 against the visiting Maples of Adrian on Oct. 5. The loudest cheers at Dexter’s soccer game Thursday, however, weren’t for the players who scored the four goals. Or for the defenders who kept the ball out of their own end. Or for the goalie who finished with a shutout. They were for Greg Zenas, a Dexter senior with Down syndrome. It was Greg’s only game as a player. Dexter Coach Scott Forrester had been planning for the last several years on how he was going to have Greg start for the team on Senior Night. “We told him that he had to wear the uniform to be part of the senior introductions before the game,” said Forrester.  “When the 10…

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Daniel Lai

4:28 pm on Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Thanks for the photos, Chris!   more ›

Dexter Offense Drives Past Holt for 2-0 Game

The Dreadnaught boys' varsity soccer team is showing improvement as the 2012 season winds down.

By Alex Hardie As the Dexter varsity soccer team advance to the end of the 2012 season, it continues to play better. The team posted a 2-0 win against Holt High School on Sept. 29. Defeating Holt was a first for the Dreadnaughts, compiling their 12th victory of the season. On the road against the Rams, Dexter's Max Amann headed home a serve in from a Nils Valdmanis corner kick for a goal, seven and a half minutes into the game. Three minutes before the half time break, a Dread attack resulted in the team's second goal. Forward Jake Kilian sent a penetrating pass thru a gap in the defense on into Bobby Toth’s run. Toth dribbled at the goal and struck it with the outside of his foot, past the keeper to the far post for a 2-0 score. The Rams …