Imlay City’s Leevii Turrell (27) and Macomb Lutheran North’s Ben Davis (3) chase down the loose ball Wednesday during this 0-0 Blue Water Area Conference clash on Sept. 16, 2026. (DAN STICKRADT — MediaNews Group)

MACOMB TWP. – Imlay City has needed some quality competition in the Blue Water Area Conference soccer circles and Macomb Lutheran North is just the team to give the Spartans a challenge.

The two schools hooked up with their first-ever meeting as members of the same conference and the two rivals walked off the pitch Wednesday at Lutheran North with a 0-0 draw.

The Mustangs and the Spartans settled little in the scoreless tie. If the two continue on the same course, they could meet again on Oct. 12 in Imlay City.

“We could meet for the championship (next month),” said Imlay City coach Luis Hernandez. “We like the competition. Lutheran North is a very good team. They have some nice players and they (created chances).”

Although not as high-powered offensively as in recent years, Imlay City moved to 6-1-2 on the season and 5-0-1 in the BWAC standings. Lutheran North, which left the Catholic High School League AA Division after last school year, remained unbeaten on the season at 6-0-1 overall and 4-0-1 with plenty of more soccer to go until the BWAC crowns a league champion.

Macomb Lutheran North's Zach James (1) dribbles past Imlay City's Juan Hernandez (7) Wednesday during this 0-0 Blue Water Area Conference clash on Sept. 3, 2026. (DAN STICKRADT -- MediaNews Group)

“We’re a different team this year,” said Brian Horvath, who returned to the sidelines last season after stepping away from the program for a few years. “We did get some kids back (from LLS Next Academy programs) and some kids that concentrated with football or other things. But we’re a year older. Last year they were going up against teams that had a lot of seniors and juniors and we were a little young. We’ve improved since last year.”

Lutheran North has outscored the opposition 40-3 this season with four shutouts. The Mustangs ventured through a major rebuilding campaign last season and only finished 3-12-1.

Meanwhile, Imlay City has won 10 straight BWAC titles and 13 of the last 14 in a period of dominance. The Spartans were second in the BWAC back in 2015 in their only blip on the radar.

“We’re won quite a few in a row, at least 10,” said Hernandez. “It’s nice to see another really strong program in our league. That will help us get ready (for the state tournament). But we’ve still have a lot of games to go.”

Senior Andrew Litshay notched only one save to gain the team’s fourth clean sheet in seven games for Lutheran North. The Mustangs lowered their team goals-against-average down to a paltry 0.43.

Senior Max Galiana recorded seven saves for the shutout for Imlay City. Galiana, a fourth-year starter and returning All-State goalkeeper who is considered the top goalie in the BWAC, has recorded four shutouts in nine games. The Spartans’ goals-against-average is 0.56.

Lutheran North controlled play for long stretches of the game, posting a commanding 21-4 overall shots edge in the contest, including 7-1 with shots on goal. The Mustangs couldn’t solve the Rubix Cube of Galiana and they struggled to put a lot of their shots on target. Only 33.3 percent of their shots were on frame.

Imlay City's Damian Leon (18) tries to fend off Macomb Lutheran North's Paul Jimenez (2) Wednesday during this Blue Water Area Conference showdown on Sept. 16, 2026. (DAN STICKRADT -- MediaNews Group)

It was the active Galiana who turned some heads, including making a full-lateral save with 21:00 minutes left in the first half off a rocket from outside the box from Lutheran North senior Matteo Vitale. He also stopped a second half breakaway and has been making those types of stops throughout his prep career.

Lutheran North – a proud program that has several deep postseason runs including the 1987 Class B state championship – has returned to where they were two years ago when the Mustangs were one of the better teams in the state in Division 3.

“I like the way we are playing right now,”: said Horvath. “We didn’t enter any preseason tournaments this year because I wasn’t sure how we’d do after winning just (three) games last season. I didn’t want us to lose confidence early in the season. But now I can see that this team can compete.”

Both schools had several club players through the likes of the Michigan Stars, Vardar and Nationals Soccer Club that compete with or against one another in the offseason through ECNL or MLS Next Tier 2.