Gull Lake Makes 1st-Minute Goal Stand in Claiming 4th Finals Title
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
November 5, 2022
NOVI – Thirty seconds changed the Division 2 boys soccer championship match between Richland Gull Lake and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood on Saturday at Novi High School.
It took Gull Lake 30 seconds to score, as junior Ryker Corstange took a slick pass from senior Jasek Zielaskowski and blasted a shot from the left side to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead.
That ended up the only goal of the game, as Gull Lake (22-3) claimed its fourth MHSAA Finals title in a defensive struggle.
“Did I think that would stand up? With our defense, I would say yes,’’ said Blue Devils goalkeeper Evan Kaiser, who was brilliant in the victory. “We have a great defense. Everyone does their job. Everyone works hard, and we come together as one big family. Getting a goal early doesn’t take the pressure off, but it definitely helps our defense knowing we are up a goal.”
Gull Lake didn’t allow a goal during its six-game MHSAA Tournament run.
“We got a wake-up call when we lost to Mattawan 4-3 during the regular season,’’ said Ryker Corstange, the nephew of head coach Jeff Corstange. “That sparked us. We were insanely mad. We wanted to go out and show people what Gull Lake was about. We’ve been known to score pretty fast. Jasek just worked his tail off, got to the corner, crossed it and I was just there to shoot it in.’’
It was Jeff’s fourth Finals title, as he previously won three with the girls soccer team at Gull Lake.
“This one meant the most,’’ said Ryker.
Jeff was noncommittal.
“We got healthy and got back to what we were supposed to be,’’ said Jeff Corstange. “We got Tre (Reiner) back there. He was out for six weeks, and he’s one of our best defenders. Getting him back in the postseason was huge for us. I didn’t think that goal would hold up, especially with the wind the way it was. The way they pressed and the way they shoot, with No. 2 (Nathan Hooker). We thought he might be able to take advantage of the wind. With that wind, you have to hit it a little softer. We’re not used to that.
“It was a beautiful pass from Jasek, sliding the ball over. We’ve been doing that all postseason. We practice it all the time, and they made the play. It was a beautiful goal.’’
Gull Lake entered the postseason as the top-ranked squad in Division 2, with its last title in 2020. The Blue Devils claimed victories over No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, No. 8 Parma Western and No. 9 DeWitt during their march to the championship game.
Cranbrook (15-2-3) won the Detroit Catholic League AA title and was ranked No. 3 at the end of the regular season. The Cranes pitched four shutouts on their run to the championship under veteran coach Chad O’Kulich.
Playing with the lead, Gull Lake kept the pressure on the Cranes, keeping play in Cranbrook’s end. Gull Lake’s Zavier Thomas was a constant threat.
Cranbrook found itself a goal down with no offense and no shots on goal in the first half.
“Kaiser is an incredible athlete. He’s a great keeper and one of the best I’ve coached,’’ said Jeff Corstange.
Desperate for a second goal, Adam Boyle hit the crossbar for Gull Lake 11 minutes into the second half.
Cranbrook finally got a shot on goal with 20:58 to play, but the attempt went wide.
The Cranes’ best chance to score came from Evan Evans, a senior midfielder. But his shot also hit the crossbar.
“They played hard, and they played aggressive, but they are classy,’’ said O’Kulich. “There was great sportsmanship out there. I think that starts at the high school level.’’
PHOTOS (Top) Zavier Thomas (7) leads a run toward the goal for Gull Lake on Saturday. (Middle) Nathan Hooker (2) advances the ball for Cranbrook Kingswood.
Undefeated Fruitport Eying Historic Opportunities as Postseason Begins
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
October 10, 2024
The hardest thing for Dan Hazekamp is trying to single out individual players on his top-ranked Fruitport soccer team.
“The truth is, what we have here in Fruitport are a bunch of blue-collar guys that go out and play for each other and sacrifice for each other,” explained Hazekamp, whose team wrapped up the outright Ottawa-Kent Conference Silver title on Monday with a 2-0 win over visiting Grandville Calvin Christian.
“We have 24 great individuals. I’m more proud of that than any record.”
Nowhere is that blue-collar mentality more apparent that on the Trojans’ defensive line.
Fruitport, 17-0-1 and ranked No. 1 in the latest Division 2 coaches association poll, had a string of nine straight games without surrendering a goal and is yielding a meager 0.44 per game.
The final line of defense is senior keeper Logan Werschem, whose instincts and experience give the team confidence in pressure situations.
He would be the first to tell you that his defenders excel at limiting scoring chances, making his job much easier. Isaiah Packard, Braxton Ward and Sam Krueger are all seniors and returning defensive starters, along with junior Nathaniel Cribley-Cotto – who has used his 6-foot-2 size to fill the shoes of departed all-stater and four-year starter Brady Brown.
“We carry a lot of pride back there,” said Packard, who hopes to play soccer next year at Muskegon Community College and pursue a career in welding. “We don’t let balls past us very often. Nate is the new guy and he’s done great, but otherwise, it’s basically a two-year starting backline.”
Last year, Werschem and the Trojans defense set a school record with 15 shutouts, including 13 in a row before a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to eventual Division 2 champion Grand Rapids Christian in a Regional Final.
This year, the Trojans have 12 shutouts and would love to get at least four more to earn a coveted spot on the soccer record board which hangs at the Ken Erny Memorial Soccer Field.
“I love playing with those guys,” said Ward, who plans to play college baseball next year. “We have so much chemistry on our backline that we are able to play as one unit. Right now, we are just so locked in, every game.”
Fruitport’s defense has been so good that opponents are often forced to gamble and commit additional resources on offense, opening up counter opportunities for speedy junior Jorge Burgos-Yack (16 goals), 6-5 senior Isaac “Big Country” VanderMolen (13 goals) and senior midfielder Grade Anspach (10 assists).
That is exactly what happened at the end of Fruitport’s tight win over Calvin Christian in Monday’s O-K Silver Tournament title game.
With Fruitport clinging to a 1-0 lead into the final minute, the Squires pulled their keeper and put on the pressure. Werschem responded with a big save and then got the ball out quickly to a streaking Burgos-Yack, who guided a shot into an empty net with 13 seconds remaining.
The Trojans are a combined 35-3-4 over the past two seasons, with 27 shutouts. Two of those three losses were to eventual state champions – Hudsonville Unity Christian (Division 3) and Grand Rapids Christian (Division 2).
Fruitport now has an awkward eight days off before opening District play Oct. 15, an idle stretch that could be an issue for many teams, but not as much for a team as deep as the Trojans.
“Our practices are super intense, sometimes more than the games,” said Packard. “Our second in line is just as good as our first, so there’s really not a big drop-off. We have 24 guys, so we run hard 11s at practice.”
While shutouts in a season would be a good school record to have, this year’s team – which consists of seven seniors, 13 juniors, two sophomores and two foreign-exchange students – is focused on a more prestigious record: most wins in a season.
The Trojans won 20 games in 2008, and this team would break that record if it is able to win its two District games and then win two Regional games for the first time. Fruitport has reached Regional Finals four times, but has never won a Regional title or played in the Semifinals or Finals.
Fruitport will likely face bitter rival Spring Lake – which provided the only blemish on the Trojans’ record this fall with a 1-1 tie Sept. 28 – in the District opener, and then it could be another rival, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, in the District Final.
And then it only gets tougher from there.
“We talk all the time about the thin margins between winning and losing in the tournament, and how tiny details make all the difference,” said Hazekamp, a 2003 Fruitport graduate who coaches with his brother Steve. “We’ve embraced the expectations, and we’re not running from anything anymore.
“We have some guys who are hungry to get back to that point we reached last year – and then try to get a little more.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Carter Gregor (12) celebrates his goal Oct. 3 against Wyoming Godwin Heights with teammates including Isaiah Packard, Jyles Smith and Carlos Cruz. (Middle) Packard battles a Godwin Heights player for possession as Jayden Booker looks on. (Below) Fruitport boys soccer coach Dan Hazekamp keeps a close eye on the action. (Photos by Colleen Merkins.)