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November 9, 2005Battle of Norsemen all set in Division 4SUTTONS BAY - The Norsemen will be in the state finals on Saturday.Mark it down. Which one? That is another matter. Suttons Bay and North Muskegon - both of whom bear the Norsemen mascot - face off tonight at 6 p.m. in the Division 4 state soccer semifinals. The game will be played at Muskegon West Michigan Christian High School. Each win for No. 12-ranked Suttons Bay marks new ground in school history. The Bay had never won a regional game until this year. No. 11 North Muskegon (19-4-2) is in its sixth year with a soccer program. The team defeated defending Division 4 state champ Muskegon West Michigan Christian twice this season, including a 1-0 win in districts. The Muskegon squad has given up just three goals in five playoff games this season. They are led by forwards Chad Erickson (19 goals and 11 assists through 21 games) and Brandon Houseman (nine goals, 12 assists through 21 games), while goaltender Mike Hermanson was an all-conference selection. Andrew Szatkowski and Joey Slater anchor the defense. Suttons Bay coach Tom Singer said he doesn't know too much about North Muskegon, but said drawing on the experience of coaching against several Muskegon teams in TBAYS, he said the other Norsemen should be a physical team. "I've determined it will come down to finesse versus physicality," Singer said. "It's going to be a good match. And it should be an interesting one, too." Suttons Bay has allowed only four goals in four postseason games, scoring 12 of its own in the process. Alex Dingrando has stepped it up in the playoffs, scoring the game-winner in a 1-0 regional final win over Big Rapids Crossroads, netting three in a 5-1 regional win over Big Bay de Noc and two more in district play to account for half of the team's postseason scoring. Dingrando has 11 goals on the season, with Mike Morrison leading the team with 14 and Blaine Fritz and Jesse Wright adding to the offense. Matt Ness has eight shutouts for the season. Singer said soccer in the area is gaining a lot of attention statewide with both Elk Rapids and Suttons Bay in the Final Four of their respective divisions. "It's nice to see northern Michigan being represented in two of the four semifinals," Singer said. The other Division 4 semifinal matches up No. 3 Allen Park Inter-City Baptist against unranked Royal Oak Shrine. The winners will play in the state finals Saturday at noon in Troy. NOTEBOOK: Proof positive that state rankings don't really mean much is the composition of the Final Four in each division. Of the 16 teams still playing, only nine were ranked in the top 10 of their respective class. All four teams left in Division 2 are ranked, including the top three (East Lansing, Mason, Bloomfield Hills Lahser), but Division 1 and 3 have only two ranked teams and just one ranked squad in Division 4 has survived this long. Four of the nine ranked teams remaining were ranked No. 8 or lower.
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