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.
Longtime Cheboygan Coach Stormzand Continues Giving to Game as Official
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
April 10, 2023
Twenty-five years ago, Cheboygan girls soccer started by storm.
Actually, “Stormy” is more accurate.
As another girls soccer season gets rolling across Northern Michigan this month, the pitch will frequently experience a storm, er Stormy, again.
Stormy is Mark Stormzand, and he may be joined often by his regular referee partner, Alan Granger. Stormzand, one of many members in his family nicknamed Stormy, got the Chiefs girls soccer program started in 1997 after one year as a club. At the time, he was also an assistant coach on the school’s boys team.
His career included 217 total victories, seven District titles, six conference titles, and eight players who went on to play college soccer. He spent two seasons assisting the boys.
But he started another career in 1999. He became a soccer referee. He is still doing it today, which is why the Chiefs definitely will see him on their home field or somewhere else nearby this season.
Like many officials, Stormzand started using the whistle because he really just wanted to be a part of the game.
“I started with just boys soccer because I was coaching the girls,” Stormzand recalled. “I just wanted to be part of the game when I wasn’t coaching.
“I love being around young athletes,” he continued. “And, I enjoy helping.”
Now at 69 years young, Stormzand plans to stay with officiating as long as most officials try.
“Like all of us, until my body won’t,” he says of his when he’ll leave the pitch. “Every year I keep thinking I am surprised I am still doing this.”
Stormzand is glad he started officiating. It has helped fill a void after coaching. It also helped fill a void in his personal life.
In 2015, his wife Gail died after battling breast cancer.
“We had been together since we were 15 years old,” said Stormy. “She was inspirational for my coaching … my kids loved her, and she was always a part of our team.”
Stormzand noted he’s had many great players and great teams over the years — all of which he credits with teaching him more than he taught — but the team from the spring of 2015 is at the top of the list. His wife’s passing came two months before the start of practice.
That team filled the greatest void in his life.
“I kept telling myself if I could make it to soccer season, I can make it,” Stormzand recalled. “They were my life ring by a long shot.
“The team that year was unbelievable with their sensitivity and concern and respect,” he continued. “I was just awestruck of how mature this group of 20 girls were dealing with me and my situation. … I will never forget them.”
Stormzand went on to coach the girls team three more springs as he officiated boys in the fall. He remarried in September of 2018, right after giving up the helm of the program he started.
“It was a dark day for Cheboygan girls soccer when Mark resigned,” said Jason Friday, Cheboygan’s athletic director. “He was one-of-a-kind.
“He just had a way of making every player, no matter what role they had, feel special,” Friday went on. “Year after year, the team chemistry and camaraderie was second to none.”
Stormzand also retired from 45 years in the forestry business. He’s seen a lot of changes in high school soccer, and he admits he picked up things officiating that made him a better coach.
“When I ref’d, I’d see stuff other coaches did and I’d incorporate that into my thinking and coaching,” he said. “Ref’ing made me a better coach, and coaching me a better ref.”
Among his favorite places to referee now are Cheboygan and Mackinac Island. He and Granger have taken the ferry to Mackinac Island for Friday evening and Saturday morning contests for about 10 years.
They’ve enjoyed the opportunity to get to know the Islanders on the pitch as well as the visiting team’s players. Many teams have middle schoolers on the roster, allowing the teams, coaches and referees to become more familiar with each other than they would during just the high school years.
Stormzand and Granger love the spirit of the game on the Island, especially when rivals are in town. Most all the games feature co-ed squads.
“It’s all the positive parts of sports,” Stormy said. “It is just fun — pure sport.
“You can learn the kids’ names, and you’re with them for six years and all their brothers and sisters,” he said. “It’s a very fun community place to ref, especially on a Friday night when they’re playing rivals like Beaver Island.”
Stormy admits he has enjoyed coaching more than officiating so far. But he doesn’t miss sitting on the sidelines in less-than-desirable spring weather. He recalls one season of wearing a raincoat for every match until the District Final.
Running on the pitch helps deal with the difficult weather. He’s seen many officials, players and coaches struggle with the weather conditions, especially when the Chiefs occasionally played at the Coast Guard Cutter Station field.
“We would play there periodically because the high school field had too much snow on it,” he said. “The Straits (of Mackinac) would still be frozen, and you’d have this mist coming off the Straits.
‘Some teams would show up without warmups, and it would be like 32 degrees and cold fog.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Mark Stormzand talks things over with his 2017 team during his time leading the Cheboygan girls soccer program. (Middle) Stormzand, now with more than two decades as an official. (Below) The 2015 team always will hold a place close to Stormzand’s heart. (Top photo courtesy of the Cheboygan Daily Tribune; middle and below photos submitted by Mark Stormzand.)