Pontiac Times

Lake Orion Community Schools issued the following announcement on Oct 18.

If you were to define Chris Corteg’s roughly four-and-a-half-decade coaching career in one word, that would be a logical one to come to mind.

In his fourth season at the helm of Lake Orion’s boys’ soccer program and set to begin his sixth year with the girls in the spring, Corteg, 69, has a long history of success – and not just at the high school level.

Despite not playing the game of soccer competitively until he was 19 years old, Corteg worked himself into a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II player, beginning his student-athlete career at Macomb Community College before transferring to Oakland University, when the then-Pioneers were just launching their program in the mid-1970s.

Corteg left Oakland to finish his teaching degree at Wayne State University, and his coaching career began the next year, as he was hired by Macomb Community College as an assistant coach.

Speaking to the coach before their 3-2 home victory over the Birmingham Seaholm Maples on October 12, he took us through his journey of stops that have led to where he is today.

“From there, I left and became an assistant coach at Oakland University under Wayne Pirmann,” he began.

“Did that for a year, and I was able to get the Oakland Community College job. In our first varsity year, we tied for the Michigan Community College Athletic Association championship, then they canceled the program, so I had a year at Henry Ford Community College.

“Then, the job opened at Eastern Michigan, so I applied and got that, was there 11 years.”

During his decade-plus in Ypsilanti from 1983-93, Corteg racked up the most wins in Hurons/Eagles history, serving as the school’s longest-tenured head coach before the men’s soccer program was discontinued in 2000.

Following his time at Eastern Michigan, Corteg returned to where his coaching career began – Macomb Community College – leading the program to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Championship in 2001.

With his coaching career having come somewhat full circle at the collegiate level, Corteg entered the high school ranks with the Utica Eisenhower Eagles – coaching both the boys’ and girls’ programs – winning Macomb Area Conference (MAC) Coach of the Year honors before receiving a promotion to the school’s Director of Athletics.

He served as Utica Eisenhower’s AD for 10 years, also coaching the Macomb Dakota Cougars girls’ program for two seasons in 2015-16, leading the team to a district championship in his final year before falling to eventual state champion Stoney Creek in the regionals.

Originally hired by Lake Orion Community Schools in October 2016 to begin coaching the girls’ program in 2017, Corteg shared what was appealing about the opportunity with the Dragons.

“Well, I had coached, director of coaching, with the LOBOS soccer club here at the time and had some ties with players and parents,” he said.

“Chris Bell is a really good AD, I could work with him, and he was very supportive, and they have their own field, and I was familiar with the community, and it was – and still is – nice.”

During his time at Lake Orion, Corteg has guided the girls to three Oakland Activities Association (OAA) championships in 2018, 2019 and 2021, plus a district title last spring.

On the boys’ side, he took the program to the district championship game in 2019, narrowly falling to the Rochester Adams Highlanders, 2-1, in overtime.

These accomplishments stand out to the coach among his time with the school thus far.

“With the girls, especially, it was probably winning the districts last year, winning the first regional game,” he said.

“While we were a good team, we weren’t a great team, we really had to work and focus. We had some talent, but the most important position in girls’ soccer, in most coaches’ opinions, is the goalie, and we had no goalie, we had a volunteer.

“She did a great job, but in the end, you’re asking someone who’s never done something to play the toughest position in the game.

“The boys would probably be being in the district final a few years ago, upsetting state-ranked Eisenhower and losing in overtime to Adams.”

The October 12 victory over Birmingham Seaholm was the final match of the regular season for Corteg’s boys this fall.

Competing in the OAA White, the team is set to begin postseason play on Thursday, October 14 against the Flushing Raiders in Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) District No. 12, which Lake Orion High School is hosting.

The Oxford Wildcats and Grand Blanc Bobcats will square off in the other quarterfinal on the Dragons’ half of the bracket, with the Lapeer Lightning, Davison Cardinals and Clarkston Wolves residing on the other half.

Corteg shared his thoughts on how the boys have played thus far, while also offering fans a look ahead to his girls’ team in the spring.

“The boys, we knock it around well,” he said. “Aesthetically, we play a very nice game. We’re a little young, and physically, a little small. We play some teams that are big, 6-foot-1, 6-foot-2 guys.

“High school soccer is a little more direct and physical, and that doesn’t bode us well, those teams give us problems. But we’ve had some good wins this year, such as beating De La Salle.

“The girls, there’s a lot of good players coming back. We’ve already sustained an injury to one of our better players, an ACL tear, so that’s an issue, but I’m optimistic, there’s enough firepower coming back from last year’s team that we should do alright.”

Corteg, who owns his United States Soccer Federation (USSF) B and C-level coaching licenses, has continued to play competitively even after his collegiate career ended, playing on successful men’s teams at the Over-30, Over-40, Over-50, Over-60, and Over-65 levels.

Set to celebrate his 70th birthday in April, he and some of his friends and teammates are interested in fielding an Over-70 team to represent the state of Michigan.

Some of Corteg’s other accolades throughout his career include coaching two players who went on to represent their countries at the national level – Alexi Lalas for the United States and Justin Meram for Iraq – plus another eight who have gone on to play professionally in either the United States or Europe.

Original source can be found here.

Source: Lake Orion Community Schools