Calvin Christian Claims 4th Straight Title
June 13, 2015
By Dan Stickradt
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — Grandville Calvin Christian has joined some elite company.
The top-ranked Squires became just the second girls soccer program to win four straight MHSAA championships by edging Lansing Christian, 2-1, in the MHSAA Division 4 Final at Michigan State University’s DeMartin Stadium.
The record steak is Hudsonville Unity Christian’s six straight championships from 2005-2010. Calvin Christian’s four straight (2012-15) is second, while five more teams have won three straight (Madison Heights Bishop Foley on three occasions).
Calvin Christian also became the 10th program to win four titles total. Bishop Foley’s 12 is the all-time record, while Unity Christian (nine), Birmingham Marian (five), Detroit Country Day (five), Novi (five), Livonia Stevenson (five), Kalamazoo Christian (four), Richland Gull Lake (four) and Troy Athens (four) are also a part of the elite club.
“It’s an amazing accomplishment and a credit to the seniors every year for leading us,” said Calvin Christian coach Tim TerHaar, who has chalked up an impressive 256-64-20 record spanning 15 seasons. “We didn’t really talk about it (winning four in a row), but I know it was in the backs of their minds. Our seven seniors did a fabulous job leading us all season, keeping us focused and helping us prepare for each game.”
Four seniors on Calvin Christian’s roster — Allison Keizer, Hilary Curry, Emily VanVliet and Morgan Buursma — played on all four championship teams.
“I could never have imagined this,” smiled Curry, a senior midfielder. “You dream of playing in one state championship game and maybe winning one. But four? This is incredible.”
Behind one of the state’s top offenses — Calvin Christian entered Saturday outscoring the opposition 137-11 in 24 games — the Squires didn’t waste anytime in lighting up the scoreboard.
Calvin Christian scored in just the third minute when Curry collected a through ball from fellow midfielder VanVliet, beat a defender at the top of the box and chipped in a shot from 10 yards out with 37:56 still to play in the first half.
After being tripped up on the near touch line, VanVliet’s ensuing long, high serve into the penalty box was flicked on by Curry and into the left corner of the goal with 15:22 remaining. That second goal proved to be the game-winner.
“It is special to score two goals in the finals. But to be honest, it is a team effort. It doesn’t matter who scores,” said Curry, who led the Squires with 30 goals, including a combined six tallies in the Semifinal and Final. “In the back of our minds, we knew we could do this — as a team.”
TerHaar said he never felt safe until the waning seconds.
“The game was played at Lansing Christian’s pace. They are very fast and a lot faster than us,” said TerHaar said. “They gave us a battle. I knew it was going to be a close game.”
It was the second Finals loss for the Pilgrims (20-5-0), the other coming in the 2011 Division 4 championship game, a 2-1 setback to the aforementioned Bishop Foley.
Lansing Christian freshman forward Kasey Jamieson, who entered Saturday with 49 goals, was relatively held in check, although she did ring a shot off the crossbar in the 14th minute and glanced a shot off the outside of the goal post in the 28th minute.
The Pilgrims, who lost in the MHSAA Semifinals last season to Waterford Our Lady, were resilient and kept hanging around the whole 80 minutes.
Lansing Christian senior midfielder Rebecca Hull drilled a penalty kick following a hand ball in the box with 6:10 remaining to trim the deficit to one goal. However, the Pilgrims could not net the equalizer down the stretch.
Calvin Christian outshot Lansing Christian 19-10, including 7-5 with shots directly on goal. Keizer made four saves in goal.
“My biggest worry coming in, to be honest, was that we were going to give up an early goal,” said Lansing Christian coach Joel Vande Kopple. “With the mentality that they are the three-time defending state champions, and if they get an early goal on us our heads could go down and stay there the rest of the game. Thankfully that didn’t happen. We fought hard (the whole game) and if one of those shots went in, who knows what would have happened. I’m still extremely proud of them with the way that they played and the type of season that they had.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Calvin Christian’s Morgan Buursma (10) and Lansing Christian’s Isabel Bustamante chase after the ball during the Division 4 Final. (Middle) Calvin Christian celebrates its fourth straight MHSAA title.
Forest Hills Central Ends Marian Title Streak, Begins Division 2 Reign
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
June 18, 2022
EAST LANSING – Wearing her black “lucky’’ jacket, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central girls soccer coach Ashley Ludtke celebrated her team’s 2-1 Division 2 championship game victory over Bloomfield Hills Marian on Saturday at DeMartin Stadium.
The Mustangs were seeking their fifth-straight Division 2 title. Instead, the Rangers (20-2-1) ended that streak with their fifth championship and first since winning Division 1 in 2017.
FHC became just the fifth team to hold Marian to fewer than two goals this season, and capped a run during which the Rangers didn’t give up more than one goal in 10 straight games.
“Marian is obviously a top-notched program,’’ Ludtke said. “They have skilled players at every level. We settled into the game, but they definitely were putting some pressure on us. The defense really came together the final part of the season. I was proud of how our backline played too.’’
The Rangers offense was led all season by senior forward Theryn Hallock, daughter of former MSU fullback Ty Hallock, who will attend her father’s school on a basketball scholarship.
Hallock wasted no time making her presence felt Saturday, scoring the first goal on a header at the 35:01 mark to give Central a 1-0 lead. It was her 35th goal of the season.
Boxing out like a power forward, she made the Marian defense account for her throughout the championship. Hallock returned to the soccer field this spring for the first time since middle school after focusing on hoops during her first three years at FHC.
“This was a chance for me to come out and play with my friends,’’ said Hallock. “I’ll miss soccer, but I’m ready to get on the court and play.
“We knew our defense had to be solid. We knew we had to get the ball to our forwards because of their speed. We probably could have scored more, but we got the job done. On my goal I just ran to the box, and I knew Dailey Tucker could get me the ball. I was there, I was ready to head it and I had a lot of confidence.’’
After Hallock’s goal, Marian star Isa Agrusso took less than two minutes to tie the game, fighting through two defenders and scoring her 21st goal of the season.
The lead didn’t last long as senior midfielder Stella Sutton scored on a corner kick at the 31:15 mark to give the Rangers a 2-1 advantage.
“We’ve been working on corner kicks ever since postseason started,’’ said Sutton. “I really just wanted to get in there and capitalize on the opportunity. I got my body in there. It hit my shoulder and it just went in. It determined the game. We knew we couldn’t allow another goal.’’
They didn’t. Mustangs first-year coach Reid Friedrichs, a former Michigan State star, was bothered by the corner kick score.
“It was not how we scripted the beginning,” he said. “It was a very wide-open game, and we looked a little shocked at how fast they could counter. I don’t know if the girls were ready for that kind of speed in a live scenario. We hadn’t given up a goal on the corner since the first game of the year. We’ve scored an average of 1.06 goals on restarts per game. To give up one and not score one is the opposite of what we’ve done all year.’’
The Mustangs (17-2) pressed the issue offensively looking for the tying score, but lime green-clad FHC keeper Ava Wilberding was up to the challenge.
Hallock nearly gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead, but a shot that got through came just after the first-half horn sounded.
Forest Hills Central had more chances to take a two-goal lead during the first 20 minutes of the second half, but didn’t convert.
Bloomfield Hills Marian (17-2) was seeking its fifth-straight Division 2 title, but this time for the first time without retired coach Barry Brodsky.
His first Marian championship came in 2003 with co-coach Chris Courage and the opponent Forest Hills Central, with Marian winning 1-0 in overtime.
PHOTOS (Top) Forest Hills Central’s Dailey Tucker (24) considers her options Saturday with a Marian player applying pressure. (Middle) The Rangers celebrate their first championship since 2017.