Calvin Christian Wins Rematch of Titans
June 15, 2013
By Chip Mundy
Special to Second Half
MASON – Midway through the first half of Saturday’s Division 4 Final, the Grandville Calvin Christian girls soccer team was behind for the first time in 17 games.
Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes/Clarkston Everest had a one-goal lead and was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in Division 4.
Something had to give.
Calvin Christian wiped out that early one-goal deficit with a goal in the first half and a tie-breaker in the second to post a 2-1 victory over the Lakers and repeat as champion in a rematch of the 2012 title game. Last year, Calvin Christian defeated the Lakers 6-0 in the Final.
“We knew that they had everybody coming back, and they were hungry,” Calvin Christian coach Tim TerHaar said. “The score last year didn’t really represent the fact that it was two quality teams, and we knew that they would be ready to play, and they played a whale of a game.
“We played a good game and worked really hard, and to be honest, I feel fortunate to win this game because they played a great game.”
For the second year in a row, the Lakers entered the MHSAA championship game undefeated, only to return home with the runner-up trophy.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Lakers coach Katie Hearn said. “I don’t know, I think we just didn’t click (Saturday). We picked a bad day to have a bad game, that’s all.”
Senior Brianna Topolewski opened the scoring for the Lakers with an assist from Shelby Mann in the 19th minute. Mann sent the ball across the crease, and Topolewski kicked the ball in past the goalkeeper on the short side.
TerHaar said his team didn’t panic facing a deficit for the first time in weeks.
“I know that we’re a focused team, and we have confidence in our ability to fight back,” he said. “I was really pleased with our response to giving up a goal, that we came and kept pressuring.”
Ten minutes after Topolewski scored, sophomore Hilary Curry answered for the Squires. Curry took a pass from Whitney Koets and beat the goalkeeper on the short side, much like Topolewski did on her goal.
“That was a very important goal that we scored in the first half to be at level footing at halftime,” TerHaar said.
It didn’t take long in the second half for Calvin Christian to gain the advantage. Curry found sophomore Emily Van Vliet ahead of her racing toward the goal on the left side and sent her a perfect pass. Van Vliet then beat the goalkeeper on the far side, and she did it right-footed, even though the left-footed shot would have been easier.
“I’m not a strong left-footed kicker, so I decided to kick it with the outside of my right foot,” Van Vliet said. “I just knew that Hilary would get me the ball. I trust her, and we work really well together, and when she passed the ball to me, I just put it in the net.”
TerHaar praised both players for their part in the game-winning goal.
“It was a beautiful play,” he said. “Hilary Curry isn’t the biggest or the strongest or the fastest player, but she’s a technical genius. She had great vision there and picked out a slot to get the ball to Emily Van Vliet, who finished calmly with a beautiful goal.”
Curry finished with a goal and an assist and took pride in both.
“It’s always fun scoring, but putting us ahead was fun, too,” she said. “It was a closer game (than last year’s title game), which made it more fun and more intense. But it’s always fun to come out and be the champion.”
Calvin Christian (18-2-4) came into the game ranked No. 2 behind the Lakers despite a streak of 11 consecutive shutouts and 15 in their last 16 games. The Lakers likely were ranked No. 1 because they were undefeated and because Calvin Christian lost nine seniors from last year – a fact that rankled the players.
“It feels great for these five seniors,” TerHaar said. “We had read in lots of newspaper stories about how we lost nine seniors from last year. Our team took a little bit of offense to that. But that’s a fact, and we are still a very, very good team, and we’re proud to be state champs.”
The Lakers (20-1 and 38-2-2 over the last two seasons) had a chance to tie the game in the 75th minute when Megan Luttinen’s shot hit the crossbar and bounced over the net.
“It was close to bouncing in, too, so the margin between winning and losing when you have two really good teams is very, very small,” TerHaar said. “We feel very fortunate.”
Calvin Christian held a 9-4 edge in shots on goal as freshman goalkeeper Jordyn Postema made three saves but was denied her 20th shutout.
Calvin Christian is the first repeat champion in Division 4 since Kalamazoo Christian won back-to-back titles in 2007-08. Saturday also marked the first time the Division 4 Final featured a rematch.
“We squandered some chances, and they had some chances as well, with all due credit there. But we did have a couple of chances that probably should have been goals that could have changed the stressful last minutes a little bit,” TerHaar said, “but they played a great game.
“It was a great final.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Calvin Christian senior Carley Sikkema (4) works to control the ball against Waterford Our Lady/Clarkston Everest on Saturday. (Middle) The Squires’ Stephanie Thomasma (3) tries to take the ball from Lakers freshman Allison Maiorana. (Click to see more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Performance: Anchor Bay's Ally Gaunt
May 3, 2019
Ally Gaunt
New Baltimore Anchor Bay senior - Soccer
Anchor Bay’s three-year starting goalkeeper continued to build on her substantial legacy last week, tying the school career record with her 32nd shutout against then-No. 3 ranked Utica Eisenhower to earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.” She became the school’s sole record holder the next game as Anchor Bay shut out Port Huron Northern 5-0 on Friday.
Gaunt tied and broke the record of 2015 graduate Emily Zweng, who went on to Oakland University, and with the 32nd shutout also earned a spot in the MHSAA record book. She’s now up to 29th all-time with 34 career shutouts and has led Anchor Bay to a combined 41-5-10 record over three seasons including 5-1-4 this spring. The Tars also have won two District titles with her guarding the net. In fact, Gaunt has never given up more than two goals in a game at the high school level – and in 13 games, she’s allowed just one – and she has a career goals-against average of 0.52.
Anchor Bay coach Kevin Grammens considers Gaunt one of the best keepers in Macomb County history, and she earned Division 1 all-state honorable mention as a sophomore and made the second team a year ago. When she’s not playing, she’s still in the game as a youth soccer referee and goalie trainer. Gaunt also played basketball as a freshman and sophomore on sub-varsity teams and carries a 3.7 grade-point average. She’s signed to continue her academic and soccer careers at Saginaw Valley State. A fan of numbers and math, she plans to major in accounting and finance and eventually become a certified public accountant.
Coach Kevin Grammens said: “Ally is usually the first player to arrive at practice and the last to leave. She is a student of the game and true believer in the growth mindset. She soaks in the mental skills training that we teach in our program and intently trains the finer details of her position with her goalkeeper coach, Keith Jarema. She is humble and is first to acknowledge that she cannot set records on her own. We've played tremendous team defense the past three years in front of her and have had and currently have fantastic, selfless players willing to play defense to benefit the team.”
Performance Point: It was a great week. It means a lot, but it’s not everything – to be fair, it’s just a record,” Gaunt said. “The season that we’ve had this year, it’s been a process. And to get that with this team, it means a lot. We graduated our back line – all four of them graduated last year, so we had to rebuild it. We had to start from scratch basically the first day of tryouts, and from then till now it’s grown tremendously. We were ready for battle, and we definitely stepped up. I knew Coach Grammens had a plan, and we had to stick with it. And I trust him, and it worked out.
Success to the successor: “My sophomore and junior year (Zweng) came back for the District games and a few of the other games, and I talked to her. She gave me some pointers, and it was really beneficial just to hear it from another player that set the record here at Anchor Bay, (made the NCAA Tournament) at Oakland.”
At home in goal: “I love it back there. You can see the entire field. You can see the plays developing before they happen. Just (from) practice, you see it, what we work on, and when it shows in games it shows practice really helps. I can see in goal what we’re trying to do.”
Our time: “My communication is better than it was two years ago. My physical aspects are better than they were two years ago. Every day we’re working on both physical and mental stuff, and it’s very helpful to get something every single day that’s beneficial. Being a senior – there’s six of us, and we all want to do something great here. ‘Leave the jersey in a better place’ is our biggest motto on the team for the seniors, and I truly believe all six of us can do it and are doing it. … Coach Grammens here at Anchor Bay has helped me become the leader I am. We have a binder with a bunch of different articles on how to be mentally strong, and reading those and going through with him helping us individually to become a better person grows our leadership skills as well.”
Problem solver: “I like the structure of (math), knowing there’s not only one way to do a problem to get the correct answer. Within the team, within soccer, you have to be able to see a problem from more than one angle – if there’s two people on the team and something happens, you have to be able to see both angles to be a good leader and try to diffuse the situation. I believe math helps with that because with numbers, you can see it that way.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
April 25: Kali Heivilin, Three Rivers softball - Read
March 28: Rickea Jackson, Detroit Edison basketball - Read
March 21: Noah Wiswary, Hudsonville Unity Christian basketball - Read
March 14: Cam Peel, Spring Lake swimming - Read
March 7: Jordan Hamdan, Hudson wrestling - Read
February 28: Kevon Davenport, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling - Read
February 21: Reagan Olli, Gaylord skiing - Read
February 14: Jake Stevenson, Traverse City Bay Reps hockey - Read
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Anchor Bay goalkeeper Ally Gaunt sends a kick downfield during a game this season. (Middle) Gaunt launches another toward waiting teammates. (Photos courtesy of the Anchor Bay girls soccer program.)