Loss to Adams gives Hartland girls soccer split against top-10 teams – Livingston Daily

A tough early schedule gives Hartland’s girls soccer team an indication of what it needs to work on from now until the start of the state tournament in two months.
The sixth-ranked Eagles gained a split while playing two games in three nights against top-10 Division 1 teams, following a 1-0 victory over seventh-ranked Troy Athens on Monday, March 23 with a 2-1 loss to ninth-ranked Rochester Adams on Wednesday, March 25.
Both opponents are teams the Eagles faced in their two recent trips to the state championship game. They beat Athens to win the 2021 Division 1 title and lost to Adams in the 2024 final. Hartland and Adams each have six players remaining from their 2024 teams.
“It’s nice this year we’ve got four games in already and two against top-10 teams,” Hartland coach Andrew Kartsounes said. “We went 1-1 in those games. We had a good one, then we’ve got to learn some things from this one and take from this one what we need to do to keep progressing, because it’s early.”
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Adams scored the winning goal with 4 minutes and 23 seconds left in the game on a shot from in close by senior Morgan Muir, a holdover from the Highlanders’ state championship team.
Hartland trailed 1-0 at halftime before Claire L’Esperance put a free kick in off the crossbar with 33:41 left in the game.
“Adams played a really good game,” Kartsounes said. “They moved the ball well, they possessed well. We just weren’t connecting. That’s something that’s been up and down for us here in the beginning of our season in the first two weeks. There’s been times we’ve moved the ball well and times we haven’t been able to connect passes. Tonight was one of those nights. We get a break now and we come back and start league play. Of course, it doesn’t get any easier in our league.”
The Eagles are 3-1, allowing only three goals in those four games.
“I’ve been pretty impressed with our back four,” Kartsounes said. “Our defense has been playing well. We have two new center backs (Addison Trammel and Ellie Curtis). They’re looking good. Haley (DePestel) has done a nice job in goal for us so far. Offensively, we’ve got a lot of returners, but we’ve got to work them in and work the connection aspect of things a little bit more.”
Brighton 16, Canton 5
Brighton 8, Canton 2
Brighton’s Ben Holster was 4-for-4 with a grand slam and five RBIs in the first game and 2-for-2 with a double in the second.
Joe Mertes had two doubles and drove in three runs in the opener for the Bulldogs.
Owosso 10, Pinckney 4
Pinckney 4, Owosso 1
Pinckney’s Henry Taube went 2-for-5 and drove in five runs in the doubleheader. The second game was called in the top of the fourth inning because of darkness.
Canton 11, Brighton 7
Brighton 10, Canton 3
Kendall Peckens was 3-for-5 with three RBIs, while Anna Minnick was 3-for-7 with four RBIs and three steals in the doubleheader for Brighton.
Howell 18, Oxford 16 (OT)
Howell senior Janie Mitter broke her own school record by scoring nine goals. Mitter, who also had an assist against Oxford, had an eight-goal performance during a 15-10 victory over Canton on April 18, 2025.
According to records submitted to the MHSAA, the nine goals tie the second-most by a Livingston County player. Brighton’s Amanda Granader had 10 goals against Forest Hills Central on April 30, 2022 and nine against Novi on April 23, 2021. Hartland’s Elena Salazar had nine against Walled Lake United on May 31, 2019.
Evie Nicholas and Brooke Moon each had two goals for Howell (2-1).
Brighton 11, Spring Lake 10
Mia Balough had four goals, Quinn Holdridge two goals and two assists, and Maggie Burchfield two goals for Brighton.
Linden 12, Howell 6
Ryan O’Dea had three goals and one assist for Howell.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan

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