Brighton's young leader gets hat trick in district soccer win over Howell

BRIGHTON — Devlin McGinnis accepted the challenge of trying to replace Michael Kramer on the scoresheet, but he hopes to also emulate the 2022 Brighton graduate off the soccer field.

“Mike was probably one of the best captains you’ll ever see,” McGinnis said. “His leadership was excellent. He was such a leader on the field and such a good student, such a good guy off the field.”

Only a sophomore, McGinnis is considered a team leader and has taken over from Kramer as the Bulldogs’ primary scorer.

McGinnis has nine goals this season after scoring a hat trick during Brighton's 8-0 victory over Howell in a first-round Division 1 district game Thursday night at Sloan Field.

A rare freshman to play on Brighton’s varsity, McGinnis had three goals and four assists last season. He was able to settle in as a varsity player, but much more was expected this year.

And he’s delivered.

“He’s done a great job,” Brighton coach Mark Howell said. “He’s an immensely talented player. He’s learning a lot as we go. We’ve put a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and the team has as well. He’s risen to the occasion. He keeps getting better throughout the season. We just continue to keep expecting huge things. We’re excited he’s only a sophomore. We know we’ve got him for two more seasons.”

McGinnis scored three straight goals after Owen White and Ethan Cassar gave Brighton a 2-0 lead just 5 minutes, 30 seconds into the game. His first two goals came 34 seconds part, extending the lead to 4-0 with 25:05 remaining in the first half.

He completed the hat trick 1 minute, 11 seconds into the second half.

Jimmie Johnson made it 6-0 with 28:22 left before Connor Allan scored the final two goals. Allan’s second goal with only 36 seconds on the clock ended the game via the eight-goal mercy rule.

The Bulldogs (7-6-5) didn’t have a letdown with defending state champion Okemos waiting for them in the district semifinals at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Hartland. Brighton beat Howell 9-1 and 3-1 during the regular season and owns a 15-game winning streak against the Highlanders since the teams tied 1-1 on Sept. 8, 2015.

“It’s one of those things where you play the games for a reason,” Howell said. “Just like any team, Howell was going to come out hard. They don’t want their season to end either. Even though we’ve seen them twice, we knew that they’d give us their best shot. It’s always a game until you get that first goal or two under your belt. We were fortunate to get it early.”

The level of competition is about to ratchet up considerably. Okemos has followed up its state championship run by going 13-1-4 this year and earning a No. 4 state ranking.  Okemos’ 40-game unbeaten streak was snapped on Oct. 6 with a 1-0 loss to East Lansing in the CAAC Gold Cup championship game.

The Bulldogs hope their experience playing in the KLAA and facing three top-10 teams this season will prevent them from getting culture shock taking the field against a defending state champion.

“Fortunately, we play in what I consider to be one of the toughest divisions in the state, so you’re tested almost night in and night out,” Howell said. “It doesn’t shock us when we do see a really good side. Some of our out-of-conference play is tough, as well. We’ll be expecting a really tough match. I think we’ll be ready for them. We’ll see come Tuesday.”

Howell was shut out for the 10th time this season, ending with a 1-17-1 record. The Highlanders’ lone victory came in their previous game, a 5-0 decision Monday over Westland John Glenn.

“Our goal was to be just as competitive as we could be, change our culture, change the way we play, and I think these guys have done a really great job of doing that,” first-year Howell coach Tom Greeley said. “Whatever is on the scoreboard, whatever is on the win-loss column doesn’t tell the story of where our team started and where these guys finished. They’ve done a great job of transforming the program into being a competitive program.”

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton's young leader gets hat trick in soccer win over Howell