Performance: Cadillac's Abby Divozzo
April 21, 2016
Abby Divozzo
Cadillac senior – Soccer
Divozzo was regarded last spring as a top goalkeeper in the northern Lower Peninsula after helping the Vikings to a Big North Conference title with 10 shutouts while giving up only 0.86 goals per game. But an incredible start this spring should put the entire state on notice. The third-year varsity starter has shutouts in all of her team’s first six games and blanked three opponents to lead Cadillac to the Holland Invitational championship Saturday and earn the Michigan National Guard Performance of the Week.
The Vikings beat Holland Black River 2-0, tied Grand Rapids Northview 0-0 and then defeated Holland 2-0, and have increased their start this season to 4-0-2. Divozzo, who has signed to continue her career at Saginaw Valley State University, wasn’t tested much against Black River, but made a key save diving into the top right corner to stop a shot from the 18-yard line and preserve the tie against Northview.
Cadillac graduated only three seniors from last season’s team that finished 14-6-1, so the start this spring hasn’t come as too much of a surprise to the senior keeper. She also was a key contributor to Cadillac’s girls ski team that placed sixth at the MHSAA Division 2 Final this winter, finishing 20th in both the slalom and giant slalom to earn all-state second-team honors in that sport. She’s a strong student sporting a 3.53 grade-point average but is undecided on what she’ll study at SVSU, although she said she enjoys math and science classes and might consider something in the medical field.
Coach Jen VanNoord said: “I feel so fortunate to have a player like Abby as my goalkeeper. Just knowing she's in net gives me the freedom and the confidence to play a high-pressure formation. She is intense and crazy and calm all at the same time. Abby has the ability to elevate her game when matches are tight … the tougher the match the better she plays. She's also my player that can make a stressed out teammate laugh and relax with her silly sense of humor. Abby is a powerful role model to the young players and a leader in our soccer community. Her confidence and continued growth as a goalkeeper have made an exceptional impact on me over the last three seasons."
Performance Point: “We have a lot of returning players, and we’ve all been playing with each other since we were 8-year-olds. We know how each other plays, know how to work together to keep other teams from scoring.”
Net minder: (I’m strong at) communication, making sure everyone knows what’s going on. I can see the whole field; they might not be able to see the whole thing. … I like that (keeper) is so different from any other position, and so important also. Most people think you’re the goalie, you just stand there. ... When you make a save, and everyone cheers, that’s pretty cool."
Refuse to lose: “I hate losing. I’m going to do anything to make sure that we don’t lose. Making sure people are dropping (into formation), making sure people aren’t left open, just making sure we don’t get scored on. In practice, I’m known as the silly one. But when it’s game time, a little switch goes on, and I’m serious.”
Goalkeeper’s goal: “I want to win a District. Our school hasn’t won a District in girls soccer ever, so obviously that’s the main goal. That would be pretty crazy, just my senior year to finally have that little extra part.”
SVSU, here I come: “The campus is awesome, the staff is awesome. I don’t really know what I want to do, and they’ve got any field of study that I’d want, so it’s a win-win – I get to play soccer and figure out what I want to do at the same place.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2015-16 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize 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 protecting lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2015-16 honorees
March 30: Cassius Winston, Detroit U-D Jesuit boys basketball - Read
March 23: Kierra Fletcher, Warren Cousino girls basketball - Read
March 16: Jacob Montague, Grosse Pointe South swimming & diving - Read
March 9: Kyle Tuttle, St. Charles boys bowling - Read
March 2: Brittney Schnicke, Caledonia girls bowling - Read
Feb. 24: Kamari Newman, Detroit East English boys basketball - Read
Feb. 17: Jason Whitens, Powers North Central boys basketball - Read
Feb. 10: Rachel Hogan, Grand Ledge gymnastics - Read
Feb. 3: Nehemiah Mork, Midland Dow swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 27: Mardrekia Cook, Muskegon girls basketball - Read
Jan. 20: Sage Castillo, Hartland wrestling - Read
Jan. 13: Rob Zofchak, Dexter swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 6: Tyler Deming, Caro wrestling – Read
Dec. 15: Jordan Weber, East Jordan boys basketball – Read
Dec. 8: Kaitlyn Geers, Kent City girls basketball – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Abby Divozzo (11) surveys the field during Cadillac's game Saturday against Grand Rapids Northview. (Middle) Divozzo launches the ball downfield. (Photos courtesy of Cadillac girls soccer program.)
Unyielding 'D' Helps Drive Norse Title Hopes
June 5, 2019
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Reyna Johnson and Kendal Hoppa were always forwards growing up playing soccer, scoring goals and enjoying all the high-fives and backslaps that came with it.
So, forgive them if they were slightly offended last year when they were asked to move to defense.
“I’ve played forward my whole career, and then was told I wouldn’t be playing there anymore,” explained Johnson. “You know you’re still a good player, but it was an adjustment, for sure.”
It was also a stroke of genius by 12th-year North Muskegon coach Ryan Berends, who knew Johnson and Hoppa had the perfect combination of tenacity, toughness, experience and maturity to handle the move.
Fast forward to today and the duo of Johnson and Hoppa, along with fellow senior defensive standout Ayla Pitts, form an almost impenetrable “blue wall” for the Norsemen, who are 19-2 and ranked No. 1 in Division 4.
Snipers Sophie Mueller (three goals) and Hope Johnson (two goals), who took those spots in the forward positions, did their thing by pressuring the goal from the outset in a 5-0 victory Tuesday over Grandville Calvin Christian in a Division 4 Regional Semifinal game in Muskegon.
NM next faces Houghton Lake, a 2-1 winner Tuesday over Elk Rapids, in Thursday’s 6 p.m. Regional Final.
“That’s what we asked the girls to do – come out insanely strong the first 10-15 minutes and send a message,” said Berends, who is assisted by Logan Pitts, Jeff Grevel and Kim Gorbach. “We have a lot of speed and a lot of attacking power.”
While longtime rival Muskegon Western Michigan Christian packed in its defense against NM in last week’s District Final, Calvin Christian came out and challenged the Norse from the start.
That strategy gave creative sophomore center midfielder Audrey Wilson and fellow mids Abby Grevel and Sophia Schotts the opportunities to pick their moments and get the ball ahead to attackers Johnson, Mueller and Gwenna Pitts.
North Muskegon peppered standout Calvin Christian senior keeper Alyssa Kiekover with four shots in the game’s opening five minutes, but weren’t able to break through until Johnson got behind the defense and then used her patience and ball-handling ability to get in the right spot and score the game’s first goal at 26:36.
That opened the floodgates somewhat, as Mueller used her blazing speed to score two minutes later, then Johnson added a left-footed goal at the 10:25 mark – proving she is nearly 100 percent after missing much of the regular season with a broken left ankle.
The Norse led 3-0 at halftime and added two more second-half tallies, finishing with a 20-4 edge in shots on goal.
North Muskegon is motivated to take the next step after losing a shootout heartbreaker last year to Kalamazoo Christian in the Division 4 Semifinals. The Norsemen led 1-0 late in that game, before allowing a goal with four minutes remaining as K-Christian forced overtime.
“We are motivated, but we are definitely focused on one game and one goal at a time,” said Hoppa, noting the Norse finished unbeaten in West Michigan Conference play for the fourth-straight year (40-0). “We know we can do it, but we also know that we need to work for it.”
The Norse had a record-setting defensive year last spring, when they won a Regional title for the first time since 2007. NM finished the 2018 regular season with a whopping 136-1 scoring edge over its opponents, including a string of 16 consecutive shutouts, the third-longest such streak in girls soccer state history.
Pitts is the leader of this spring’s defense, which returned Johnson and Hoppa and also features talented freshman Grace Vanderwoude, who replaced departed Emma Berends. The Norse also don’t miss a beat when defensive subs Molly Stewart and Elysia Maurer enter the game.
The final line of defense is imposing 6-foot sophomore keeper Syann Fairfield, a first-year starter whose aggressive style and powerful leg adds another dimension for NM.
“Our team chemistry is really the key to our team,” said Pitts, a captain along with Hoppa. “Everyone knows their role, and everyone is all about team-first. We’ve always been that way.”
Berends believes the experience of making it to the Semifinals last season for the first time in 11 years has paid – and will continue to pay – big dividends for the Norsemen this spring.
“Last year, we had to keep telling ourselves, ‘We can do this. We can do this,’” said Berends, who has a daughter, senior midfielder Grace Berends, on this year’s team. “Because of the run we had last year, it’s a different mindset. This year, it’s ‘We are going to do this.’”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Kendal Hoppa, left, and Reyna Johnson are among defensive standouts for top-ranked North Muskegon. (Middle) Ayla Pitts is another top defender for the Norsemen, and a captain with Hoppa. (Photos by Tami Pitts.)