Courtesy of the Record Eagle:

LELAND — The Buckley Bears are halfway to one of their goals and halfway to accomplishing something they haven’t since 1999.

A 4-2 win over Leland put the Buckley boys soccer team at 5-0 in the Northwest Conference. The NWC crown is within the Bears’ reach and could be theirs for the first time in more than two decades if they can run through the competition unbeaten in the second half of the conference season.

Even in 2017 when Buckley made it to the state semifinals, the Bears still lost the conference title to Leland. That was also the last time Buckley (7-4-1) beat the Comets (3-10-1, 3-2 NWC), winning 1-0 in a shootout to take the 2017 regional championship.

“This is the best team we’ve had since then,” Buckley head coach John Vermilya said. “We’ve been inching back. Tonight, to get an emphatic 4-2 win, that felt great.”

Buckley led 3-1 at the half thanks to goals from senior Alfonso Jiminez and juniors Nick Simon and Jake Romzek. Leland got within a score at 3-2 five minutes into the second half, but another Jiminez goal was enough to shut the door on the Comets’ charge. Jiminez and Romzek also had an assist each, and Buckley keeper Josh Barley had 18 saves.

Vermilya admitted his team hasn’t won anything yet. In fact, the head coach said both Leland and Glen Lake, which defeated Benzie Central 8-0 Wednesday, are more talented than his crew.

“Leland is still the standard. Glen Lake is a monstrous soccer team with some massive players,” Vermilya said. “But we have that small-town grit. These guys will run through brick walls for us.”

The Bears and Comets have a longstanding rivalry on the soccer pitch that requires such fortitude.

Although Rob Sirrine is in his first year as head coach of Leland, he spent the previous four as an assistant and knows just how competitive a match between the two Northwest Conference foes can be. Sirrine pointed to the three 1-0 finishes last year as prime examples, adding that Leland was fortunate to come out on top each time.

“It’s always a hard-fought battle with them. It’s always a physical game, more so than with other teams,” Sirrine said. “We know they’re always going to give us their best. Those games last year, those were all scrappy battles with them.”

The 2021 Leland squad is young and missing the talents of four all-state players in Wyatt Sirrine, JJ Popp, Ryan Howard and Gavin Miller. Despite the youth, Sirrine said his team persevered through early-season challenges and is better for it.

“We’re continuing to build and get better every practice and every game,” he said. “Hopefully by the time playoffs come around, we’re ready to rock and roll and get back at ‘em.”

The Comets got goals from Caleb Kickbush and Ben Kiessel in the loss. Keeper Gentza Lopez had six saves.