Name cemented in record books, Micah Sonnenberg leading Columbia Central to history

BROOKLYN - Every year under coach Kendon Smith, the Columbia Central soccer program takes a three-day camping trip at Silver Lake.

On one of those days, he has the team run the sand dunes. Approximately one-mile in - at the same spot every year - Smith leaves his team in a huddle. He tells the athletes to come up with their goals for the year as he walks to another dune and then the players have to go find him.

After claiming the first district championship in 21 seasons last year, the Golden Eagles decided to raise the bar this year

Columbia Central set three specific goals for the 2018 campaign: win a conference championship, win a district championship and most importantly, win a game in the regional round for the first time in program history.

After the Golden Eagles lost 4-2 to Manchester at the end of August and then 6-1 to Lenawee Christian on Sept. 20 - both league foes -- they thought their hopes of an Independent Soccer League title might have been over.

Instead, they haven't lost since.

Columbia Central responded to that defeat with a 3-1 victory over Manchester just four days later. Then, on Monday, the Golden Eagles dominated Lenawee Christian, winning 5-2 and earning a three-way tie for the league championship with both of those teams.

"After those losses, we thought one of our first goals, that league title might not be attainable," Smith said. "But now we're back on track and we feel we can get all of them."

The main reason the Golden Eagles are so confident and riding seven-game winning streak --the last of which came on senior night on Thursday when Columbia Central beat rival Hillsdale 6-0 to wrap up its regular season - is because of senior midfielder Micah Sonnenberg.

Sonnenberg holds just about every statistical record in Columbia Central history and has even broken into the MHSAA record books. With his three goals on Thursday, he now sits at 59 on the year and 160 for his career.

That puts him in a tie for ninth all-time in the state for most in a season and a tie for sixth all-time for most in a career. He also scored eight goals in a game against Clinton this year, putting him in a tie for third for most goals in a single game in MHSAA state history.

Despite playing for a small school in a small league, big time colleges are taking notice. Sonnenberg holds an offer from Division II Saginaw Valley State, but has been in discussion with Division I programs like Western Michigan and Oakland for many months and it wouldn't be surprising if an offer from one of those programs is on its way.

"It's been a lot of fun," Sonnenberg said about the recruiting process. "Once I got the offer (from SVSU), it felt good because it meant I could play at the next level and I want to continue doing that."

Sonnenberg, who is also the kicker for the football team, set the school-record with a 48-yard field goal in the season opener against rival Napoleon.

And while Sonnenberg has more goals than the rest of his team combined, it's not that his team isn't capable of scoring or that he hogs the ball - he leads the team in assists as well - Smith says that Sonnenberg will just take whatever the defense gives him.

"I don't think it's just been the Micah show," Smith said "Especially against a weaker teams, he could score eight goals and end the game just like that, but he will score maybe two or three and then play defense and feed the ball to the younger guys and get them involved."

One of the team's top moments came in a game against Blissfield when Sonnenberg had the ball five feet from the goal, past the goalie with a wide-open net.

Instead of tapping it in, he hit a small pass to teammate and Korean exchange student Sam Jeong, who buried his first and only goal of his career on his birthday.

"The whole team rushed the field and were jumping around with him," Smith said. "It was one of the best memories of the whole year."

Columbia Central sits at 16-4 overall, the most wins in a season in at least 20 years if not more, but the work isn't done.

The Golden Eagles believe they are the favorites to make it out of their district and with state ranked No. 1 Grosse Ile on the other side of the regional bracket, don't see why they can't win a regional game too and make some real noise in the state tournament.

"The winner of the district we would play in regionals would likely be a challenging team," Smith said, not afraid to talk about the potential of winning his district. "If we do (win our district), we really think we can get all three of our goals."

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