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.
McBain NMC Continues Rise as Coach VanNoord's Leadership Takes Root
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
May 6, 2022
COVID-19 prevented Jen VanNoord from receiving a proper soccer sendoff as her time guiding Cadillac’s girls program came to a close.
Her McBain Northern Michigan Christian soccer players certainly have given her a proper welcome.
And, Northern Michigan Soccer League opponents should be cautioned, if they haven’t been already.
We’re not talking about soccer’s red card sendoffs and yellow card cautions. VanNoord, who took the helm at Cadillac High School in 2003, built a strong youth program and took the Vikings from near the bottom to always near, if not at, the top of the Big North Conference going head-to-head with Petoskey, Gaylord, Alpena, Traverse City Central and Traverse City West.
At NMC, VanNoord took over for longtime Comets coach Dave VanHaitsma, who had the program heading the right direction. The Comets have very high expectations this season.
“I knew that in order to build a high school program I had to build the youth program and the love for soccer first – and that's what I did – with the help of so many amazing people,” VanNoord enthusiastically recalled of her time at Cadillac. “Building a program definitely didn't happen overnight, but as the love for soccer grew in the community so did our success as a high school program, and that success continues and our girls youth program is strong.”
Cadillac is off to a 6-1-4 start this season. COVID-19 erased what was supposed to be VanNoord’s final season guiding the Vikings. Cadillac knew VanNoord would step down when her daughter, Jada, entered high school and started playing soccer for NMC.
But with the pandemic starting to impact high school sports in the spring of 2020, Cadillac athletic director Fred Bryant was left regretting that the Vikings didn’t get the chance for a proper sendoff. That entire spring season was canceled after just a few weeks of practice because of the coronavirus.
"Coach VanNoord was an outstanding role model and coach for the girls soccer program as well as the entire soccer community here in Cadillac years before my arrival as athletic director in the fall of 2017,” Bryant said. “My short time with her proved to be nothing different than the previous years, as her experience and professionalism were apparent from the time I first met her.
“Unfortunately, we knew in advance that the 2020 season would be her last, but COVID abruptly ended her last season here in Cadillac and we did not get the opportunity to give her the true recognition she deserved,” he continued. “I for one am not surprised at all by the immediate impact that she has had on their program."
The Comets, with VanNoord at the helm, are off to a 9-0 start and 8-0 in league play. They’ll take on Midland Calvary Baptist this afternoon fresh from a 6-0 win earlier this week over Buckley.
Jada VanNoord had three goals and Paige Ebels scored twice against the Bears. Aria Cucinella also scored.
The Comets were 10-2-1 last year, reaching the league title game and advancing to Regionals. They’re hoping to capture the league title again and make a deeper postseason run.
VanNoord focuses on teaching fundamentals daily, constantly giving encouragement and providing an environment allowing players to thrive no matter the circumstance.
“In my opinion the key to success is to get the most out of each player every day and make them into the best player they can be that day,” she said. “This is going to be different for every girl, and it's probably going to be different every day too.
“Then, I take all the individuals and make them into one cohesive group,” she went on. “Soccer is a physically demanding sport especially in the spring, and it's easy to get discouraged and fatigued. And putting players in the right positions to create that cohesive group makes all the difference in winning and losing a game.”
The Comets are led by high-scoring sophomore Jada VanNoord. Onlookers believe she has already set the school’s single-season record for goals.
You won’t get Coach VanNoord to acknowledge stats, or specifics on the job Mabel Yount, Alaina Rozeveld, Maggie Yount and Sol Pacheco have done shutting down opponents' passing lanes this season.
“I am not one to focus on individual stats,” the coach said. “Our success comes from putting each other first.
“Our goal is to make each other great.”
And the Comets don’t rely on one player, Jen VanNoord noted.
“If each member on the team focuses on the other members of the team more than themselves, we can build from there and find success,” she said. “We are successful because we fight for each other, we are relentless for each other, and we constantly build each other up.
“This season we have many tremendous athletes who are fast and physical and strong with a wide variety of soccer specific abilities,” she continued. “No one player can win on their own – it takes every player for us to win.”
She does have to admit it is a dream come true to coach Jada. And she’s coaching the right team despite a continued support for the Vikings.
“Jada plays with so much joy and confidence that it spills over to her teammates and makes us better as a team,” Jen VanNoord said. “As much as I love the players and the program at Cadillac, I didn't want to miss her high school games to keep coaching there.
“The success NMC had last season and so far this season just solidifies the fact that I'm in the right spot at the right time in my coaching career,” she continued. “I have found a new joy for coaching because of my daughter and her NMC teammates.”
Coach VanNoord grew up in Southern California and fell in love with the game of soccer at a young age.
“I played it as often as I could, and in California you can play soccer every day,” she said.
Her family moved to Grand Rapids when she was in high school. She played for Grand Rapids Christian High School and longtime coach Larry Klaasen, who VanNoord describes as “an incredible teacher of the game.”
Klaasen, who also taught history for 21 years at Grand Rapids Christian before retiring, guided the boys soccer program for 32 seasons and the girls for 23. He stepped down as the girls coach after the 2011 season.
VanNoord started her coaching career as the junior varsity coach under Klaasen. She went on to play collegiate soccer at Calvin College.
“I found a lot of success on the field as a player but also had some amazing coaches that continued to make me into a coach that loves to play the game, loves my players and loves teaching the game,” VanNoord said.
Bill Anderson, a longtime youth and high school soccer official and referee assignor, first met VanNoord at a pick-up soccer game shortly after she took the Cadillac job.
“While she is always respectful, she certainly has a way of speaking that gets your attention when she wants to,” Anderson said. “Her players clearly love and respect her.
“Apart from that, the record speaks for itself.”
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) McBain Northern Michigan Christian’s Jada VanNoord (20) clears the ball against Big Rapids Crossroads backed by defenders Mabel Yount (18), Alaina Rozeveld, Maggie Yount (26) and Sol Pacheco (8). (Middle) NMC coach Jen VanNoord directs her team during the eventual win. (Below) Sofia Rubio (14) controls the ball while Crossroads’ Jackie Cole attempts to gain possession. (Photos by Mike Dunn/Missaukee Sentinel.)