It had been a long time coming for the Chelsea field hockey team and the wait is over as the Bulldogs claimed its first MHSFHL state title with a 1-0 win over rival Dexter Saturday.
The Bulldogs had reached the state finals three times since the team was established in 2015, but each time Chelsea came up short… until Saturday.
Chelsea had won the MHSFHL regular season title in 2015 and won the title in 2012 when they were the Washtenaw Whippets.
The win not only gave the Bulldogs the title, but it was also over their biggest rival Dexter and kept the Dreadnaughts from winning their third straight state title. It was also the first win for Chelsea over the Dreadnaughts since 2015.
Chelsea found the net early, but it was waived off for being shot out of the circle.
The Bulldogs carried a lot of play early and earned three straight corners but could not convert and it remained scoreless.
Dexter picked up a pair of corners in the second period, but the Chelsea defense came up big each time and the game stayed scoreless into halftime.
The Bulldogs broke through early in the third period when Chelsea stole the ball near the 50.
Jikke Kerstens took a pass up the right side and weaved her way through a pair of Dexter defenders. Kerstens centered a shot toward the net, and it deflected in off a Dexter defender for a 1-0.
Chelsea had another stellar chance when the Bulldogs Braiden Scheffler broke in on net, but the Dreads goaltender Audrey Owen-Smith made a big save to keep it 1-0.
Dexter continued pressure in the fourth and appeared to tie the game with a shot that deflected off a Chelsea stick and into the net, but the referee’s got together and waived the goal off because the shot came from outside the circle.
Things continued to get hectic when a Dexter shot went out of play and the clock ran out with Chelsea rushing the field thinking the game was over. The referee’s put 12 seconds back on the clock and the Bulldogs were able to run the clock and rush the field in celebration for the second time.
The state title will be the last for the MHSFHL with field hockey becoming an MHSAA sponsored sport in 2025-2026.