Gull Lake Embraces 2nd Straight Title
June 14, 2014
By Mark Meyer
Special for Second Half
WILLIAMSTON – The postgame victory hugs late Saturday afternoon were twice as tight this time around and lasted just a little bit longer.
Junior midfielder Mickey Hostetler received hers from coach Jeff Corstange, as did junior defender Hayley Buckhout, senior goalkeeper Maggie Harma and sophomore midfielder Riley Wisser. Senior captains Tabitha Boze and Rachel Fouts savored theirs as did the rest of the victorious Blue Devils, who defeated Bloomfield Hills Marian 2-1 in the title game for the second straight season to finish 24-1-1.
Gull Lake won the 2013 title 1-0 in overtime over Marian, the 2012 champion.
“It’s an honor to represent the west side of the state in a game like this,” Corstange said. “The east side schools play a physical brand of soccer, and I felt like we answered that challenge. We were able to execute our game plan to the fullest.”
The intensity of this year’s rematch was evident throughout as the top-ranked teams (No. 1 Marian, No. 2 Gull Lake) traded excellent scoring opportunities throughout the game. Marian keeper Megan Bricely denied Blue Devils forward Kirsten Taylor three times in the first half from close range – twice on the same play when Taylor recovered the first shot only to be stopped on the rebound attempt.
“Last year we carried the play to them,” said Marian coach Barry Brodsky. “This year they had us back on our heels.”
Wisser opened the scoring for Gull Lake at 16:52 of the first half on a left corner kick that hooked sharply through a wall of Marian defenders.
“The key was to pressure their defenders,” Corstange said. “We wanted to be on the attack at all times and make sure they didn’t have an opening to get started.”
Marian’s Ellie Deconinck tied the game at 4:54 of the second half on a strong pass into the middle from Jaclyn Engel, who had recovered a corner kick block by Gull Lake’s Annie Walbridge. Engel dribbled along the left end line and connected with Deconinck, who found an opening inside the 6-yard box.
“I thought we had regained some of the momentum when we scored to tie it up,” Brodsky said, “but they were just deeper than us. They kept coming after us; they’re a very fit team.”
Senior forward Sydney Nikitas broke the tie at 19:43 by converting at short range after a driving pass from the right corner by junior forward Amanda Pavletic, hero of last year’s overtime triumph, to Boze, who pushed the ball to Nikitas in front of the goal.
“Unbelievable feeling to win it two straight years,” said Corstange, who has compiled a 58-7-3 mark in three seasons, to go along with his back-to-back titles. “This is an unselfish group. We use a lot of players, and they all know their roles. Great, great way to end the season.”
Marian finished the season 19-1-1 and allowed only seven goals all spring.
“Tough way to end it,” Brodsky said, “but’s let give credit (to Gull Lake). They earned it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Richland Gull Lake players and coach Jeff Corstange embrace after securing their second straight Division 2 championship. (Middle) Marian’s Amy Stroud (14) and Gull Lake’s Hannah Phommavongsa work to control a loose ball Saturday.
Rematch Goes to Calvin Christian Again
June 14, 2014
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
MASON – A nearly identical repeat Saturday created a three-peat for Grandville Calvin Christian in the MHSAA Division 4 girls soccer championship game at Mason High School.
For the second year in a row, Calvin Christian wiped out a one-goal deficit against Clarkston Everest/Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes and then held off a barrage of shots late in the second half to win the title with a 2-1 victory.
It was the third consecutive year that Calvin Christian defeated the Lakers in the Division 4 championship game.
“It was so similar to last year,” said Calvin Christian coach Tim TerHaar, whose team finished 24-1. “They hit the crossbar late last year, and our keeper came up big.
“I said it last year, and I’ll say it again this year: The margin between winning and losing between two great teams is so small.”
This one was no different. After a scoreless first half, Calvin Christian held a 4-1 lead in shots on goal. The first shot on goal was not taken until the 16th minute.
The scoreless tie was broken in the 50th minute when Clarkston Everest/Waterford Our Lady defenseman Claire Lasceski got the ball in front of the net and beat the Calvin Christian goalkeeper to the left for a goal.
It did little to dampen the confidence of the Squires, and it wasn’t solely because of the same situation from last year’s title game. Calvin Christian trailed in its Semifinal against Muskegon West Michigan Christian on Thursday before rallying for a 3-1 victory.
“We were down in the Semifinal in the pouring rain, and we spoke of our confidence at halftime, knowing that we were still OK,” TerHaar said. “I think that experience on Wednesday night meant a lot to us.
“We haven’t had a lot of close games – the game on Wednesday night was the first time we had to come from behind – and I’ll be honest, I think that helped us at least believe. You preach that you believe when you get down, but until you do it, you don’t know how your team is going to react.”
Ten minutes after Lasceski’s goal, Calvin Christian tied it when sophomore forward Whitney Koets scored on an unusual shot. Lakers goalkeeper Megan Luttinen was drawn out of the net to challenge Koets, who was unable to get off a solid shot. Instead, it trickled past Luttinen and made it to the net.
“I still don’t believe it; it was pretty surreal,” said Koets, whose goal was her 25th of the season. “Hilary Curry did a head past me right into space, and all I thought was to just get something on it, so I did what I did.
“It seemed like it took a long time to get to the net. I thought someone was going to come up and take it out of there.”
The game-tying goal added momentum to Calvin Christian, and just three minutes later, junior midfielder Emily VanVliet scored the go-ahead goal as she shot to the left side of the net from the right side of the box.
“Every coach teaches you to shoot toward the back post, so that is what I did; I shot to the back post looking for that open net,” VanVliet said of her 17th goal of the season.
From there, the remainder of the game was frantic, especially for Squires goalkeeper Allison Keizer, who had the majority of her eight saves in the final 10 minutes.
Clarkston Everest/Waterford Our Lady was relentless in its attack, forcing Keizer to come up with a handful of huge saves, including some off corner kicks, down the stretch.
“It was stressful,” Keizer said. “They were pressing hard, and we were really going at it. We stepped up our game, and we really stuck with them and battled.”
Keizer pointed to one save in particular that she felt was huge.
“I think the one where I had to deflect it out of the end was pretty scary because I made a mistake and started coming out for the ball when I shouldn’t have,” she said. “I ended up backing up trying to fix it, and I ended up being able to fix it.
“It’s scary for me because my heart starts pumping.”
The player who threatened to score the most for the Lakers was senior forward Anna Robb, who came into the game with a team-high 19 goals.
“I wish we had taken more shots earlier in the game, but their keeper did a really good job,” Robb said.
Keizer’s heroics late in the game did not go unnoticed by either coach.
“Allison came up huge to snag a few balls late that could have been goals,” TerHaar said.
First-year Lakers coach Courtney Shegos was pleased with the way her team finished but was disappointed with a few defensive lapses.
“I told the girls to push up, push up, and we got hungry, and their keeper kept them in the game,” Shegos said. “She made a couple of prime saves, so really that was all we could do – to try to put some pressure on them and try to find the net. It could have gone either way.
“We made two mistakes in our coverage, and they capitalized on them. It’s as simple as that.”
The Lakers finished 17-2-1 and will wait until next spring to continue their pursuit of a first MHSAA championship since 2010.
“I wanted it for them, and I wish we could have done it, but I couldn’t have been prouder of the way they played.” Shegos said.
TerHaar praised the play of the Lakers.
“It’s a cruel game, really,” he said. “I don’t think they deserved to lose, based on the game that they played. I’m super-proud of our ability to come back from being down, but boy, they played a great game.”
TerHaar had a more difficult time explaining how it feels to coach in three consecutive championship games.
“It’s hard to put into words, to be honest,” he said. “We’ve been a good program for a long time, but it took us a while to fight through the South Christians and Unity Christians of the world in our Districts.
“I’m proud of our players. At the end of the day, it’s about having a team that, as a coach, you enjoy coaching, and that starts with girls who just enjoy playing and enjoy playing for each other. This team defines that.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Tessa Glashower (3) works to get past Clarkston Everest/Waterford Our Lady’s Anna Robb on Saturday. (Middle) Calvin Christian’s Camie Rietberg takes a big swing as Alex Troy (3) moves in to defend.