Shrine Back to Best in D4 Thanks to Clutch Goal, Stellar Defense
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
June 17, 2022
EAST LANSING – For Royal Oak Shrine Catholic, the disappointment of last year’s 5-0 Division 4 Soccer Final loss to North Muskegon now can be replaced with Friday’s impressive 1-0 shutout of Kalamazoo Christian at DeMartin Field on the campus of Michigan State.
After a scoreless first half, junior Norah Tisko scored 25 seconds into the second on a header to give the Knights (16-4-2) a 1-0 lead. It was her seventh goal of the season, with the assist going to Bridgette Drouillard.
“Yes, I had the finish, but it was our defense,’’ said Tisko. “Ava Gappy working it up the midfield and giving the ball to Julia (Bock), and Bridgette just giving me the most beautiful ball to execute. I really can’t take credit for it. We came into this year a little shaky. We lost some important seniors, but we had a great group of freshmen come in and step up. We were motivated to continue our run. Knowing we were coming back here was a little nervous, but we had confidence.’’
With nine shutouts coming into the Final, paced by sophomore goalkeeper Elena Gallagher, the Knights were used to shutting down opposing offenses.
“It starts with our defensive line and our goalie,” said Tisko. “Last year (Gallagher’s) appendix ruptured. We had a great second goalie, but she came back this year and our defensive line of seniors was so solid for us.”
It was a great 50th birthday present for coach Mark Soma.
“Very nice, can’t beat the party,” said Soma. “We were good last year, but we lost to a better team in North Muskegon. They were a talented group, and they deserved to win. The girls that came back wanted another taste of what it felt like.”
Shrine had allowed just one goal during the playoffs, during a 9-1 victory over St. Joseph Our Lady of the Lake in the Regional Final. Friday saw the Knights’ sixth shutout of the tournament.
“It’s not just our D; it’s our team,’’ said Soma. “Sixteen girls worked hard today. That’s what we have done all season. We kind of caught them off guard on the goal.’’
Shrine was making their third straight appearance in the Final. Kalamazoo Christian, a four-time Finals champion, also previously finished runner-up in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Gallagher finished the year with a goals-against average under 0.95.
“I totally rely on my defense; they are incredible,’’ said Gallagher. “I’m really close to all of them, so it’s like a bond on and off the field. There’s a lot of trust, so that works well for us. We are really great at communicating. We locked down as a team after the goal.’’
Drouillard, Jackie Lapoint and Claire Plaskey also were on the 2019 championship team.
The Comets (19-6) were on the attack most of the first half but couldn’t register a goal. Defense dominated the first 40 minutes as both sides had few scoring chances.
Annika Sytsma found one for Kalamazoo Christian with 1:13 to play in the half, but her shot went across the goal mouth and missed by inches.
“We were coming in with injuries, so we were trying to create different things,’’ said Comets coach Jay Allen. “It wasn’t meant to be today. We held (Tisko) for most of the game. She got loose once, and that was the difference. We were struggling to get that last step in there, but that’s soccer.
“We just couldn’t get a goal early, and this game is like that.”
PHOTOS (Top) Royal Oak Shrine Catholic celebrates its Division 4 championship win Friday at DeMartin Stadium. (Middle) Shrine keeper Elena Gallagher makes a stop.
High 5s - 4/24/12
April 24, 2012
Each week, Second Half gives "High 5s" to multiple athletes and a team that have performed exceptionally on the field or made a notable impact off of it.
Please offer your suggestions by e-mail to editor Geoff Kimmerly at [email protected]. Below are this week's honorees:
Mallory Weber
Northville senior
Soccer
Weber, a two-time Division 1 all-state forward, leads one of the best teams in the state. Northville is 5-0-2 and ranked No. 3, with its most significant win so far coming last week, 1-0 over reigning Division 1 champion and current No. 5 Novi. Although Weber did not score that goal, she did help open up the field by drawing two and at times three defenders. She has nine goals and five assists this season, and has signed with reigning Big Ten regular-season champion Penn State after also considering the University of Maryland and the University of Miami (Fla.). She also played basketball at Northville.
For love of the game: "I love soccer. It's so competitive. It's just fun. It's fast-moving; basketball you stop so much, but in soccer you're always continuing."
I learned the most about soccer from: "Probably my (club) coach Andy Vanover. He was my coach for probably six years, and he taught me to never give up. That work ethic is part of what makes my game so hard to defend."
I model my game after: FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi. "Just how he's so good with his foot skills. That's the biggest part of my game I try to work on."
Up next: Weber is undecided on her major at Penn State, but is considering something in food science and nutrition. "I just like the whole thing of how food affects your body, how it plays into your performance."
Jake McFadden
Clare senior
Track and Field
McFadden won the 110-meter hurdles (14.9 seconds), the 300 hurdles (39.3) and the 200 dash (22.3) on Saturday at the Remus Chippewa Hills Invitational as Clare scored 174 points to finish first. He's the reigning MHSAA Division 3 champion in both hurdles races and helped Clare to a third-place team finish at the 2011 Final. He also owns school and Jack Pine Conference records in the 110 (14.82) and 300 (39.28), according to a report by the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun. McFadden played football in previous falls until this school year, when he switched to cross country to help him get into better shape for track season.
Up next: McFadden has signed to run track at Michigan State University, and will study biomedical engineering. "I just like the working-with-my-hands aspect, making new things (like) replacements for hips and knees, making innovations in that kind of stuff."
Quick learner: McFadden shot put and ran on a relay in junior high, but didn't try hurdling until high school. "I just watched a lot of film on myself, just fixed stuff there."
I look up to: "I'd say my brother (Mike McFadden, a 2010 Clare grad). He's the one who really got me into track. He played baseball freshman year and ran track sophomore year, and he really liked track. I wanted to follow in his footsteps and see what I could do."
Crossing over: "I played football every year but senior year. I ran cross country this year. It was a good experience, got me in shape. I ran about what I wanted to run, time-wise."
Stevensville Lakeshore softball
In a battle of top-ranked teams, Stevensville Lakeshore -- ranked No. 1 in Division 2 -- downed Division 1 No. 1 Mattawan 4-3 in eight innings to win Saturday's Mattawan Invitational. The Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference rivals also met in last season's Mattawan championship game, with Mattawan winning in eight innings, and again in last weekend's Portage Invitational final -- a 4-2 Wildcats win. Mattawan had won 38 straight games before falling to Portage Central earlier Saturday.
Lakeshore also beat Division 1 No. 3 Grandville, 7-1, and Vicksburg 6-1. The Lancers improved to 11-2 with the tournament sweep.
This spring's previous honorees
Sarah Appold, Saginaw Valley Lutheran softball
Nick Stiles, Bath baseball