As a pair of reporters searched for St. Clair Shores Lakeview goalkeeper Ryan Boren following a late October regional semifinal soccer game, a Huskies player wittily remarked, “Look for the big orange thing.”
The player wasn’t far off in describing his teammate in that manner, although he probably would have been wise to quickly look around and check that Boren wasn’t nearby.
The Lakeview goalkeeper, who was wearing an orange jersey in that game, is listed at 6 feet 3 inches tall and 235 pounds. Those dimensions are more often found on a football roster — which is where I got them.
Boren also played on the offensive and defensive lines for the Huskies' football team.
Built for battles in the trenches, Boren’s size didn’t hinder him on the pitch.
He helped lead the Huskies to their fourth straight district title and played well in the regional semifinal loss, keeping a talented team at bay as best he could in Dexter High (which later advanced to the state finals for the third straight season).
“(Dexter) definitely had more shots than us, for sure,” Lakeview coach Nick Spano said. “Ryan did a heck of a job, made some real critical saves. It could’ve been worse if not for him.”
It’s impressive that Boren has the endurance, focus and skill set to not only play both ways on the football field, but to step in between the posts without much practice and perform well on the soccer field.
“I can say we wouldn’t be here if not for him,” Spano said. “He’s done a heck of a job since he took over.”
Boren spent most of his practice time with the football team, joining his soccer teammates mainly just for games.
“It was kind of hard at first,” Boren said about splitting time between the two.
Eventually it worked out for all the parties involved, which is great to see because more often than not student athletes who want to play major roles on two separate teams during one season are forced to choose.
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