Marquette’s Alexi Caron, center, dribbles past a pair of Fruitport players in their MHSAA Division 2 regional tournament boys soccer game played at Cedar Springs on Tuesday evening. (Photo courtesy Michelle Grunert)

CEDAR SPRINGS — The historic season for the Marquette Senior High School boys soccer team came to an end in the MHSAA Division 2 regional semifinals in this Lower Peninsula town just north of Grand Rapids on Tuesday evening.

MSHS fell 2-0 to Fruitport after Marquette not only made its first appearance in the state tournament, but won a pair of games that included a district tournament championship last week.

On this night, though, lightning kept the teams off the field for about 90 minutes just after the second half started with the game scoreless.

It marked the second time that lightning delayed one of Marquette’s games in the tourney.

“Our game plan was working and we felt good right up until the lightning delay,” MSHS head coach Dan Salmon said in an email detailing the results after the team finished its season with a 14-6 record. “We were playing a fast-paced, heavy-press attack, which was starting to give us offensive chances. Once the game restarted, we just couldn’t get back to where we were.

“This was another one of those games that was unprecedented, start to finish was almost four hours after our nearly three-hour game in the district championship on Saturday.”

Fruitport (18-2-3) didn’t break through on the scoreboard until the game’s final 11 minutes when sophomore Jorge Burgos-Yack scored, according to a report from the Muskegon-area LocalSportsJournal.com. The Trojans then added an insurance goal about two minutes later by Ryder Merkins for the final margin.

The website also said that Fruitport, which was reported to hold a 9-4 edge in overall shots, extended its shutout streak to 13 straight games, three short of the state record held by Lansing New Covenant Christian in 2008. Fruitport has also won 14 games in a row.

The Trojans advance to today’s regional championship game against Grand Rapids Christian back in Cedar Springs. The winner advances to the Division 2 semifinal next week against the winner of another regional final between Plainwell and Holland Christian.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.