Gull Lake Stands Tall Again After Shootout
June 12, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – The final kicks of 2015 came down to gut feelings for Richland Gull Lake goalkeeper Regan Troff.
She closed her eyes and said a prayer. And then she made saves that extended one of the most impressive championship runs in MHSAA girls soccer history.
After 100 minutes of scoreless play Friday, this season’s Division 2 Final came down to a shootout between two-time reigning champion Gull Lake and Fenton – which was seeking its first MHSAA title in any sport since winning in softball in 1993.
Troff, the team’s first-year starting keeper, considered how her team would react if she succeeded or failed – before saving two of three Fenton kicks as the Blue Devils won the shootout 4-1 and the game 1-0 at Michigan State University’s DeMartin Stadium.
“I was just thinking about how much I love my team,” Troff said. “There’s no better feeling than knowing you have a group of 24-something girls who love you no matter what, whether you mess up, don’t mess up or save the game. They’re always going to be there, and you always have them to fall back on.”
There wasn’t much falling down this spring as the Blue Devils finished 25-1-1 despite graduating a strong group of seniors after last season’s repeat. Gull Lake became the eighth team to win at least three straight MHSAA girls soccer championships (and sixth program; Madison Heights Bishop Foley won three straight on three occasions.).
Troff replaced one of those graduated stars, keeper Maggie Harma, who had 18 shutouts during both the 2013 and 2014 seasons and played in net as a freshman at Wayne State University.
Troff spent part of Thursday’s practice talking with Harma and listening to her mentor’s final words of advice. They didn’t specifically come to mind as Friday’s game went to the shootout. But the theme was the same.
“She just told me to play with all of my heart, no matter what,” Troff said. “And whatever happens, just leave it all on the field because at the end of the day – if you win, or if you lose – you’re still a family no matter what.”
The teams had combined for 37 shots during 100 minutes of play and with each missing on a handful of scoring opportunities.
Troff had five saves and Fenton sophomore Abigail Quesnelle had 10 during regulation. The crossbars could’ve been credited with a few as well.
Gull Lake had won a shootout in the Regional Semifinal, as Troff had two key saves that allowed the Blue Devils to come back from two penalty kicks down and beat Mason.
This time, coach Jeff Corstange reminded his keeper to be patient, make her guess and go with it.
Gull Lake kicked first in the shootout, and senior Hannah Phommavongsa scored. Fenton’s first shot was saved by Troff, and Gull Lake junior Maddie Fouts sent her shot low into the net to make it 2-0. Junior Chloe Foor then scored to pull Fenton within 2-1.
But Gull Lake senior Hayley Buckhout made it 3-1, Troff saved Fenton’s next kick, and senior Annie Walbridge clinched it by connecting on the Blue Devils’ fourth penalty shot.
“Keepers tell you all the time that, oh, they can tell or you can guess it. To a certain extent you can, but you never know what’s going to happen,” Troff said. “You’re going with that gut feeling that you have, and that’s what I do, and just hope for the best.”
“You never want to lose on PKs,” Corstange added. “I talked to their goalie afterward; she played a tremendous game. And I told her that it’s not the way anyone wants to go out, and I apologized to her. PKs are never fun.”
Regardless of the loss, it was a historic run for Fenton (15-5-3). The Tigers advanced to the championship game for the first time after making the Semifinals for the third time in seven seasons.
Just a few inches here and there kept them from instead leaving with their first championship trophy. But they did finish with 11 wins over their final 13 games.
“It’s the way they play. There’s not a team that played harder than us all year,” said Fenton coach Matt Sullivan, who finished his 11th season. “The way these girls treat each other is just so special. I’ve been coaching for a long time, and I’ve never been around anything like this.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Gull Lake players celebrate after a score during Friday’s shootout. (Middle) Fenton’s Brianna Costigan (20) pushes the ball ahead with Kenzie Harney (11) among those defending.
GPN Gives Extraordinary Ending to Unimaginable Run with 1st Finals Title
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
June 16, 2023
EAST LANSING – Grosse Pointe North girls soccer coach Olivia Dallaire sent a special thank you to her co-workers at Grosse Pointe Beaumont Hospital Friday afternoon after her team claimed its first MHSAA Finals title at DeMartin Stadium.
“I played four years here on this field (at Michigan State) and four years as a player at Grosse Pointe North,’’ Dallaire said. “I’m very speechless. I’m at a loss for words. I couldn’t get it done as a senior in the state championship game. I’m so proud of these girls that they were able to bring it home.
“I did have to go to work today,” the nurse anesthetist added, “but my co-workers allowed me to work half a shift and covered for me.’’
The Norsemen earned a 3-2 edge in a shootout to clinch a 3-2 win over East Grand Rapids in the Division 2 championship game. After winning just one game in the Macomb Area Conference Red this spring and entering the postseason with four victories total, the Norsemen capped their first championship run at 10-7-7 – proving it’s good to get hot at the right time.
The winning kick in the shootout came from senior Mia Stephanoff. Goalkeeper Grace McCormick did the rest, stopping two shots by EGR with another flying over the goal.
“I always pick the same side because I practice it every day,’’ said Stephanoff. “I know I’m good at it and I know I can make it, even when they guess right, which she did. When I saw her I said ‘Oh God.’
North was down 2-0, but Dallaire changed the offense in the second half and McCormick was phenomenal in goal.
“We’ve been down 2-0 before,’’ said Stephanoff. “In our Regional Semifinal against (Bloomfield Hills) Marian we were down 2-0. It wasn’t really that big. We knew we could come back.’’
East Grand Rapids twins Gracie and Reese Lynn are freshmen and destined to be stars. They scored the first two goals for the Pioneers to stake them to a 2-0 lead.
East Grand Rapids (18-3-3) was seeking its first championship since 2002 and finished third in the Ottawa-Kent Conference White this spring, while Grosse Pointe North was fifth in the MAC Red and had finished Division 1 runner-up in 2008 when Dallaire was a junior.
On cue, the Lynn sisters combined for the first goal of the game just less than 11 minutes in when Gracie took a pass from Reese and blasted a shot from 19 yards out into the right-side corner of the net.
After being dragged down by a Norsemen defender, Reese was granted a penalty kick. She didn’t disappoint as she drilled the shot to make it 2-0 after 13 minutes.
GPN responded when freshman Meredith Dodenhoff scored off an assist from junior midfielder Amelia Streberger from just outside the box with 15:10 left in the first half to make it 2-1.
The Norsemen then tied the score with just under 15 minutes left in regulation when Alyssa Burney’s corner kick was mishandled and bounced into the net for an own goal.
Neither team scored over 20 minutes over overtime, although EGR got close during the second half of the extra period when Margaret Periard had a shot that drifted just right of the net.
Gabby Miller followed an opening shootout miss by EGR by sending her shot into the net. Reese Lynn tied the shootout 1-1, and the Pioneers went up 2-1 on Toki Budelmann’s make. But Streberger tied it at 2-2, and Stephanoff decided it on GPN’s next kick.
There was added history to the Norseman’s first title. Since at least 1991 – the farthest back published results include team records – no girls soccer team had advanced to an MHSAA Final with fewer than 10 wins until GPN and Clarkston Everest Collegiate in Division 4 both did so this week.
“This means so much to me and my team,’’ said McCormick. “This whole year we’ve been the underdog. We worked so hard. So many players have improved. It’s been a really great season. We did the same thing against Marian. I loved that we didn’t give up.’’
PHOTOS (Top) Grosse Pointe North keeper Grace McCormick dives to her right to make the game-clinching save Friday. (Middle) East Grand Rapids’ Reese Lynn (16) and North’s Amelia Streberger battle for possession. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)