Senior Matthew Eshman has scored 45 goals for Grosse Pointe North boys soccer, helping the Norsemen claim the Macomb Area Conference Blue Division championship, according to Grosse Pointe News.
North finished five wins ahead of second-place Port Huron Northern in the conference standings, the newspaper reported. The turnaround follows a season in which North won just six games.
Eshman joined the program for the first time this fall after years of high-level club soccer. He decided not to pursue college soccer and chose to play his senior year with classmates instead.
“Continuing to play at that high level, to me, wasn’t as beneficial as having fun,” Eshman told Grosse Pointe News.
He said teammates and coaches made him feel welcome from the start.
Eshman also recorded 11 assists, according to the newspaper’s Oct. 15 report. His 45 goals put him within reach of North’s single-season record of 50, which has stood for more than 40 years.
Head coach Nino Maniaci, new to the program this season, praised Eshman’s character and the way he has embraced high school soccer.
The Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association ranked North No. 7 in Division 2 in its Week 8 poll, dated Oct. 12. Grosse Pointe Woods’ University Liggett topped the Division 4 rankings at 15-0-0.
North’s next listed game is at home against Lutheran North at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, according to MaxPreps.
