MACOMB TOWNSHIP — The annual Paul Bartoshuk DCDS Invitational at Detroit Country Day High School wasn’t welcoming to Macomb Lutheran North head coach Anthony Vani in his first two years.

The invitational holds the first three games of the Mustangs’ regular season, and Vani, stepping into his third season this year, looks at it as a measure to see where his guys are compared to other teams around the state.

In 2022, Lutheran North was 1-2 with both losses coming in 1-0 fashion (one being a shootout) while 2023 was an improvement, posting a 2-1 record with its only loss coming at the hands of the host, Country Day.

With a roster loaded with underclassmen while still maintaining a healthy number of senior veterans, Vani was intrigued to see what the invitational would hold this time around for his squad, which went 9-10-1 in 2023 and lost at districts.

“The biggest difference between this year and last year is the kids have all bought in for the most part,” Vani said. “The strategy, like I’ve told them before, is if we all pull the rope in the same direction, good things can happen. If everyone loses focus and is pulling it in all different directions, no matter how good or strong you are, it just doesn’t work. The boulder doesn’t move.”

Allowing only one goal and posting a 3-0 record with wins against Royal Oak, Grosse Pointe South, and Country Day, it’s safe to say the Mustangs launched the boulder out of its stagnant position.

Lutheran North also showed resilience by overcoming shootouts against South and Country Day to grab the win.

It may only be three games out of an entire season, but senior Marcello Vitale said it gave his teammates all the confidence they needed.

“Winning that tournament was something special for us, and it really showed us how much potential we have to do something big this season,” Vitale said. “Anything is possible for us.”

Apparently a red-hot start to the season was very possible for the Mustangs as their 11-1-1 record has Vani’s squad ranked No. 4 in Division 4 soccer.

The tie was a “tough pill to swallow” as Vani described it, but it didn’t seem to faze a Lutheran North team that came back and shutout Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard and Dearborn Divine Child in back-to-back games, outscoring them 8-0.

You can point the finger at just about any facet of Lutheran North’s game as to why it’s surging right now, and also at the top of the Catholic High School League-AA division, but six shutouts in 11 games immediately gravitates the attention toward its backline play.

Junior William Pruzinsky, who led Lutheran North in the DCDS Invitational with two shootout wins and two clean sheets, has anchored the net since his freshman season.

“He got called as a freshman two years ago when our main goalie got hurt, and he’s just grown every year,” Vani said. “Will (Pruzinsky) has grown into a heck of a goalie. Two weeks ago, against Cranbrook, he saved two PKs to hold on for the 2-1 win against Cranbrook.”

The backline also deserves a ton of credit as junior Jayce Van Hevel was tasked with filling the void of third team all-state honoree Brandon Avery.

“He stepped into Brandon’s role and has done great,” Vani said. “He’s been very, very solid and clean. He seems to be in the right place at the right time a lot.”

Senior Landon Nilson, senior Nathan Vani, and junior Peter DiLella have been impressive on the backline.

On the offensive attack, take your pick as to who you want to score because the Mustangs have an abundance of guys who can take over the game at any second.

The Gibbs brothers of Julian (sophomore) and Luca (freshman) have already announced their presence on the high school soccer scene as underclassmen alongside sophomore Matteo Vitale and freshman Leo Vani. Senior Stavio Daman is the older brother of the group, helping the younger guys navigate on the attack.

“Me, Julian, Matteo, Luca, and Leo play really well together,” Daman said. “We all play a high level of club soccer, and I think we link up pretty well in the final third (closest to the opponent’s goal). I’ve known Matteo and Julian for a decent amount of time, so in the summer we would train on our own to be ready and prepared for what has to come our way.”

Lutheran North, which hasn’t made it out of districts since the 2020 shortened season, has turned heads but the confidence-building and personal growth from each player is what Vani said he’s enjoyed seeing the most the past three seasons.

The 2025 senior class is an important one for Vani because they’ve set the tone for what he wanted to establish throughout the program.

“It’s my third season as head coach, so it just takes time for when a new administration comes in to build that confidence into the program,” Vani said. “Now, my seniors were my sophomores, so they don’t have some of the preconceived notions of how it was done before. There wasn’t anything wrong with how they did it before, but it’s just about how they perceive that we have a plan.”

The plan now is to do something Lutheran North has never done before – win a state championship.

Regional titles, district titles, and league titles have taken up too much space on the Mustangs’ banner, but “2024” slotted under a state champion heading would be the ultimate send-off for a culture-changing senior class, and they have all the confidence in making it happen.

“This definitely feels like the year we could do it,” Vitale said. “We’ve started the season strong, and we want to finish it that way. We have great players and a great team, and we know we can do great things.”