![Kalamazoo Christian’s Taylor Leonard (2) controls possession Saturday with Everest Collegiate’s Natalie Cross in pursuit.](/sites/default/files/2023-06/230617_D4_2H.png)
2022 Runner-up Kalamazoo Christian Follows Lead Scorer to 2023 Championship
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
June 17, 2023
EAST LANSING – Senior forward Taylor Leonard finished her high school career Saturday with 106 goals, scoring what surely were three of her most memorable at DeMartin Stadium.
Leonard, who will play next at Hope College, also had an assist as Kalamazoo Christian downed Clarkston Everest Collegiate 5-0 in the Division 4 Final. The Comets (19-6) had finished runner-up a year ago and four of the last five seasons.
“It was such an amazing feeling; we’ve been working for this all season,’’ said Leonard. “For the seniors to lose last season and having our freshman season cancelled because of COVID … we’ve gone through a lot, and to come out with the win was amazing.’’
Kalamazoo Christian came to the Finals with a rich championship history, having won Division 4 in 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008 and finishing runner-up in 2017, 2018, 2019 and last season – when the Comets fell to Royal Oak Shrine Catholic 1-0.
“The first goal really put us at a high point after being shut out last season,’’ said Leonard. “We had adrenaline before the game, but that first goal shot us through the roof. We knew we couldn’t let down. At halftime Jay (Allen) told us to not let down.’’
With Leonard leading the offense, her coach had no worries.
“Every senior class is special,’’ said Allen. “In January we got all these girls together, and we went through all kinds of adversity with the weather and academic trips and things. Our offense speaks for itself starting with Taylor. Three more goals today to add to her more-than-100 goals for her career. We’re proud of her, but we’re mainly proud of her leadership. Goals are good, but you can’t teach the leadership skills that she has.’’
Everest (8-8-1) previously had finished Division 4 runner-up in 2012, 2013 and 2014 as part of a cooperative program with Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes.
This season’s playoff run would’ve been thrown out as a Hollywood script.
The Mountaineers, a scrappy bunch, were winless in the Catholic League AA. They finished the regular season losing seven of their last eight games, including 5-1 to top-ranked Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, and won just three games total before the playoffs began.
Despite working through key injuries, including to senior Caroline Cross, Everest rallied to make a playoff run, including with a 1-0 win over Liggett in the Semifinal.
“They played hard today, and we have a lot of girls who play different sports,’’ said Mountaineers coach Richard Cross. “We have some chances early but couldn’t convert. We played in a tough league, between Shrine and Liggett and those teams. That really prepares us to get to this point. I do want to give credit to Kalamazoo Christian. They scored when they needed to.
“It has been a remarkable run. Their joy and love for each other. This is such a special group. They’re easy to coach, and I’m just glad to be a part of it.’’
The Comets wasted no time getting on the board Saturday as Leonard blasted a shot just 2:12 into the game for a 1-0 lead.
Junior forward Sophia Nash scored the Comets’ second goal on an assist from Leonard with 21:37 left in the first half to make it 2-0.
Less than a minute later, sophomore defender Jordyn Bonnema – a golf and basketball all-stater – blasted in a loose ball after a corner kick to make it 3-0. Leonard tacked on her second goal 2:30 later to make it 4-0.
She added her third goal 2:38 into the second half to make it 5-0.
PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Christian’s Taylor Leonard (2) controls possession Saturday with Everest Collegiate’s Natalie Cross in pursuit. (Middle) The Comets celebrate during their championship win. (Below) The Comets’ Izzy Suloff (16) and Everest’s Kathleen Thibodeau ready for play to come their way. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
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Liggett Shoots, Scores first Title since 2005
June 17, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Although his team found itself in an unfamiliar situation Friday afternoon, David Dwaihy had an idea how at least the first part might play out.
As Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett readied for its first tie-breaker shootout of this spring – and in the season’s final game – Dwaihy, the eighth-year coach, decided to simply ask his players to raise their hands if they wanted one of the penalty kicks.
“I had a few in mind who I wanted to take the shot,” Dwaihy said. “I ended up just saying raise your hand if you want one. The hands flew up, and the freshmen all raised their hands.”
And then the most “courageous and bold” of them all finished the Knights’ first MHSAA championship run since she was getting ready to start kindergarten.
Freshman defender Kate Birgbauer was her team’s fourth and final shooter and put her attempt just past the crossbar into the top of the net to give Liggett a 4-2 advantage in the shootout and a 1-0 win over Montrose in the Division 4 championship game at DeMartin Stadium.
Sophomores Kelly Solak and Alexis Wenger and junior Maddie Wu also made kicks as Montrose missed their first two tries, setting Birgbauer up to end the game.
“I love shootouts. I like the pressure,” Birgbauer said. “I actually turned to my friend Izzy (Brusilow, the team’s second-leading scorer this season) and I was like, ‘Are you 100 percent sure you’re going to make this?’ She was like, ‘Oh, I’m not sure,’ so I was like, I’ll take it. So I stepped up and shot it.”
“They’re courageous and a very bold, confident group – especially our center back who scored the winner, Katie Birgbauer,” Dwaihy added. “She wanted it.”
Liggett (19-2-1) won its fifth straight District title to start this run and repeated as Regional champion as well, but hadn’t played in an MHSAA championship game since winning Division 4 in 2005.
Despite their relative youth – the Knights had only three seniors this season – a number of key players gained experience during last season’s run. But they still hadn’t been pushed to this brink during a season in which they gave up only 14 goals.
Montrose (23-4-1), meanwhile, was playing in its first MHSAA championship game in girls soccer after winning its first Regional title, and ended this season giving up only nine goals.
The more upperclassmen-laden Rams went on the attack immediately. Sophomore Remington Hobson broke away at 28:04 in the first half, but Liggett junior keeper Kara Francis jumped in front to deflect the drive away from the goal. Senior Ellory Barnette sent a header over the net off a corner with 14:04 to go in the half, and Liggett sophomore defender Teagan Cornell headed away another Montrose shot midway through the second half that would have found the net had she not dropped back to cover the corner.
The shot differential wasn’t much during regulation, with Montrose tallying nine to Liggett’s eight. But the Rams had 11 corner kicks in the game to Liggett’s one, giving them better opportunities to attack.
“That’s turned out to be our bread and butter this year, set pieces, corners, and we came close,” Montrose coach Jason Perrin said. “If you get 11 of them, you’ve got to put one in.
"But they’re very similar to us – they get 10 girls behind the ball, they clog up the passing lanes. We do that. It was kinda like playing ourselves, a little bit.”
The game appeared over before the shootout, but only for a minute, when a Liggett throw-in landed in the Montrose net with 5:09 to go in the second period of overtime – but the goal was called off because it didn’t touch a player from either team on the way.
“I think that lit a fire in our hearts a bit,” Birgbauer said. “We got mad, and we came back.”
Montrose had more experience in shootouts – they’d gone 1-1 previously, with a win that way over No. 2 Elk Rapids in the Regional Final. But Liggett apparently was plenty prepared despite a lack of shootout experience.
Liggett’s Francis and Montrose senior keeper Alexis Rush both made four saves while controlling play in front of their respective nets. Rush is one of eight seniors who will graduate from the Rams’ most successful team.
“We had a good core coming back. We won 17 games (last season). But we hadn’t won a District since 2001. So it’s hard to dream too much beyond the District or Regional level,” Perrin said. “But this team grew with confidence. Really, once we beat (Saginaw) Nouvel in the District Finals, I could just tell we had the mindset to go as far as they wanted, and they put on a good run.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Teammates converge on Liggett’s Kate Birgbauer after the freshman’s winning shot in Friday’s Division 4 Final. (Middle) Liggett’s Rebecca Lohman moves the ball to a teammate while Montrose players pursue.