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.)
Marian Extends Title, Unbeaten Streaks
June 16, 2018
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
WILLIAMSTON – Usually, goals scored during the final minute of a half are considered backbreakers.
But there might have to be new terminology for what Bloomfield Hills Marian’s girls soccer team did in the final minute of the first half of Saturday’s Division 2 Final at Williamston High School.
One backbreaking goal wasn’t enough for Marian, which put its offensive firepower on full display by scoring two over the final 58 seconds of the first half to take a two-goal lead into halftime against Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
That proved to be the big momentum shift, as the Mustangs won their second MHSAA title in a row and seventh since 2003 with a 4-2 victory in what also was a rematch of last season’s championship game.
“Those were dynamite goals,” Marian head coach Barry Brodsky said. “To come back against us when we are up two is pretty difficult.”
Marian didn’t take long to get on the board, taking a 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the game on a goal by sophomore Chloe Aberlarde. She took a pass from Claudia Schilling and found herself alone in front of the Forest Hills Northern goal, burying the chance inside the far post.
Forest Hills Northern had an answer, tying the game at 1-1 with 14:02 left in the first half on a goal by Elyse DeSchryver, who fired a perfect shot from 30 yards out underneath the crossbar and into the net.
Forest Hills Northern appeared to be in good shape to go into halftime tied, until the Marian magic struck.
First, junior Jansen Eichenlaub got free down the right side of the field, dribbled towards the center of the goal and made no mistake, beating the keeper to make it 2-1 Mustangs with 58 seconds left before the break.
Then, with just 8.5 seconds remaining, senior Annie Bruce fired home a shot to make it 3-1 Marian.
Eichenlaub flicked a service into the box to Bruce’s feet to create the scoring opportunity.
“That got us pumped up,” Eichenlaub said. “We stress about the last five minutes and the first five minutes, so it was really big to win the last five minutes and get those two goals.”
Obviously, Forest Hills Northern was the opposite of pumped up going into halftime.
“The girls were tired, and we were hoping to get into halftime and regroup a little bit,” Forest Hills Northern head coach Daniel Siminski said. “They got a lot of momentum there, and it’s hard to dig yourself out of a hole like that against a team like Marian.”
The Mustangs scored to make it 4-1 with 32:13 left in the game on another goal by Bruce, who forcefully volleyed home a service into the box on a corner kick by Schilling.
Forest Hills Northern cut Marian’s lead to 4-2 with 29:10 remaining on another goal by DeSchryver, who got off a shot with her left foot from outside the box that once again went under the crossbar.
Marian completed its second consecutive unbeaten season, going 22-0-1 this spring after finishing 24-0 in 2017.
The Mustangs will enter the 2019 season on a 47-game unbeaten streak, with their last loss to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in a 2016 Semifinal.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Bruce said. “Usually we just try and stay together, and that’s exactly what we did. It was a team effort.”
It was the third straight loss in the championship game to Oakland County opponents for Forest Hills Northern (19-5-0), which fell to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in 2016 and Marian in 2017.
PHOTOS: (Top) Bloomfield Hills Marian’s Jansen Eichenlaub (9) works to keep possession surrounded by Forest Hills Northern defenders including Carly Andrus (14). (Middle) Forest Hills Northern’s Addie Brown, right, pushes the ball ahead while Marian’s Maria Askounis works to gain control.