It has been a long time coming for the first Huron league title for the Milan boys’ soccer team, but after 25 years, the Big Reds finally came away with the league crown. 

Dating back to the first season of the Huron league in 2000, Milan had never finished on top, but the streak stopped this week when the Big Reds claimed the 2024 crown. 

Milan rolled through the regular season with a 5-0-2 record and was seeded first in the Huron round robin. 

The Big Reds started the playoffs with a 3-0 shutout of Riverview. 

Nolan Matley and Caleb Klein scored goals in the first half to give Milan a 2-0 lead at the break. 

The Big Reds sealed the win when junior Christian Dionne finished a loose ball off the Riverview goalie that went into the net with just under 17 minutes left for a 3-0 lead and that would be the final. 

Braeden Lerette, Matley, and Klein picked up assists in the game. 

Milan traveled to New Boston Huron for the second-round match and the teams were scoreless after one half. 

The Big Reds broke through in the second half when Caden Lambers capitalized on a loose ball and sent it into the net for a 1-0 lead. 

The score stayed 1-0 until the final minute when Huron knocked home a rebound to tie the game and made it a 1-1 final. 

The third-round matchup was between the top two teams in the Huron League when the Big Reds traveled to Grosse Ile Wednesday. 

It was a defensive battle from the start between the teams with neither team mounting much offensively.  

The Big Reds defense and freshman goalkeeper Wyatt Hurd kept Grosse Ile out of the net all night and the team’s battled to a scoreless 0-0 draw and clinched the first outright Huron League title for Milan. 

Milan finished the conference season with a 6-0-4 record and improved to 8-2-4 overall.

Photos by Kelly Faro