Senior's Parting Goal Seals Pilgrims' Repeat

June 15, 2018

By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half

WILLIAMSTON – Lansing Christian senior Kasey Jamieson scored nearly 200 goals during her terrific high school career. But it’s pretty obvious which one she’ll remember most: The last. 

Playing in her final high school game Saturday, Jamieson scored what turned out to be not only the last goal of her career, but also the entire season in Division 4.

Her tuck inside the near post was the decider as Lansing Christian claimed its second consecutive MHSAA title with a 1-0 win over Kalamazoo Christian at Williamston High School. 

“You can’t get much better than that,” Jamieson said. “It’s fun to end the year with a final goal. My final goal was in the state championship, and it was the final thing I’ll do at LCS. It’s pretty exciting.”

With 14:46 remaining the first half, Jamieson took a long pass from junior teammate Rilyn Ross in the left corner of the penalty box, beat a defender one-on-one and put a shot past the keeper to make it 1-0 Pilgrims.

It turned out to be the only goal of the game as the Pilgrims and Comets met in the Division 4 Final for the second consecutive season. 

In 2017, Lansing Christian scored the first goal in overtime and thought it was on its way to the title before Kalamazoo Christian scored off of a corner kick with four minutes left in the second overtime period to force a shootout.

Lansing Christian ultimately prevailed in that shootout to win its first girls soccer title.

A year later, the Pilgrims won title No. 2 by holding on to the early lead through relentless pressure up front, winning balls in the midfield and playing stout defense on the backline. 

Lansing Christian (20-3-2) outshot Kalamazoo Christian (20-3-4) by a 26-9 margin and had plenty of chances to increase its lead. But the game stayed 1-0 – although Kalamazoo Christian found a little life during the final 10 minutes with three corner kicks, which brought back bad memories for Lansing Christian head coach Joel Vande Kopple.

“That’s how they scored on us last year,” Vande Kopple said. “My stomach was up in my throat. But (goalie Lynn Cullens) and our defense were amazing. We didn’t give up a goal the whole tournament run.”

Lansing Christian indeed held on and now will say farewell to a senior class that will be hard to top in the future.

Jamieson, Cullens, Jessie Kruger, Sarah Voss, Alex Hanks, Jenna Li and Ally McHugh went to the MHSAA Finals three times, made Semifinals all four years and leave with two championships. 

“It was a great way to send them off,” Vande Kopple said. 

Sophomore goalie Jenna Blackwell made 25 saves in goal for Kalamazoo Christian.

“We battled to the end,” Kalamazoo Christian head coach Jay Allen said. “We made a few mistakes in the back there. In a game like that, you make one mistake and you lose.”

While disappointed over losing in the Final for the second straight year, one look at the roster offers a smile for Kalamazoo Christian. 

The Comets graduate just two seniors off their squad, Carmen Katie and Madelyn Batts, and will return 10 sophomores and three freshmen. 

“It’s a loaded roster, but what you have to understand is that those two seniors kept that roster together,” Allen said. “They brought the team together, led the team and got us to where we are. It was their leadership.”

Click for the full box score.

VIDEO: Lansing Christian's Kasey Jamieson scores the lone goal of the Division 4 Girls Soccer Final with under 15 minutes to play.

PHOTOS: (Top) Lansing Christian’s Eliza Lewis (17) pushes the ball upfield as Kalamazoo Christian’s Mikayla Tiesman chases. (Middle) Karina Deering keeps possession for the Comets.

Title IX at 50: Portage Northern Star Byington Becomes Play-by-Play Pioneer

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

September 21, 2021

From Portage Northern, to Northwestern University, to the smallest of TV markets in the United States to the sidelines of the most recognized sports networks in the world, Lisa Byington has blazed trails all over the Midwest and beyond.

Beginning this October, she will take another historic step for women in sportscasting.

Byington will take the microphone as Bally Sports Wisconsin’s play-by-play announcer for the Milwaukee Bucks – becoming the first female full-time TV play-by-play announcer for a men’s “major” professional team in the NBA, MLB, NFL or NHL.

Lisa ByingtonThis will be just the latest accomplishment for the former Huskies basketball and soccer all-stater, who went on to play four seasons of basketball and two of soccer at Northwestern. Byington began her broadcast career at WBKB in Alpena – currently the third-smallest TV market in the nation – and then moved on to become a beloved fixture at WLNS in Lansing for nearly a decade. Her next moves took her into regional and then national spotlights, from broadcasting games with FOX Sports and the Big Ten Network, among a number of major entities, to working as a sideline reporter from 2017-19 at the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for CBS and Turner Sports. She also was FOX’s play-by-play voice for the 2019 Women’s World Cup and for women’s and men’s soccer coverage on NBC Sports during this summer’s Olympics. She has done play-by-play for WNBA and NBA games, and in March, Byington also became the first female play-by-play voice at the NCAA men’s basketball tournament when she called games for CBS and Turner.

Byington was a finalist for the Miss Basketball Award as a Portage Northern senior in 1993, and according to the Detroit Free Press’ “All-State Basketball Team” report was set to graduate the following spring with 28 school records in hoops, including for 1,392 career points, 384 career assists and 379 career steals. She also made the Class A all-state girls soccer team as a senior after earning honorable mention as a junior. At Northwestern, she was a three-time Big Ten all-academic selection in basketball and two-time academic all-Big Ten pick in soccer.

Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard

Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights

Sept. 14: Guerra/Groat Legacy Continues to Serve St. Philip Well - Read
Sept. 7: 
Best-Ever Conversation Must Include Leland's Glass - Read
Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read

PHOTOS courtesy of Lisa Byington and Portage Northern’s athletic department.