BY DAN STICKRADT
Communications Specialist | Web And Content Editor | Director of News |
Social Media Director | Interns and Freelance Coordinator
PH: (248) 884-1051
TW: @LocalSportsFans @MiSoccerNetwork
(Michigan Soccer Network Communications Specialist / Web and Content Editor / Director of News Dan Stickradt compiles team capsules for over 460 girls soccer programs statewide. Email pertinent information to stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com. Follow on Twitter @msn_stickradt, @LocalSportsFans, or @MiSoccerNetwork and on numerous social media platforms.)
Competing Teams – Cedar Springs, Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern, Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills, Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills, Grand Rapids South Christian, Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg, Wayland
SCHOOL: Cedar Springs
HEAD COACH: Justin Harnden
2023 OVERALL AND LEAGUE RECORD / FINISH: 7-11-3, 4-4-2 Ottawa Kent Conference-Gold Division (fifth)
2023 STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS: Lost in D-2 pre-districts to Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern (3-2).
RETURNING STARTERS: Reagan Viau, sr. M/F (All-District, All-League); Kelsi Green, sr. F (All-District, All-League; signed with NCAA Division III Albion College); no other players specified.
OTHER KEY RETURNEES: Alyssa Balcam, jr. G; Katherine Christie, jr. M/D; Isabella Cook, sr. M; Natalie Haan, soph. D; Avery Lake, sr. M/F; Stella Malon, sr. D; Ella Peck, soph. M; Kaitlyn Reyburn, jr. M/F; Brielle Sarniak, sr. D; Natalie Schafer, sr. F; Madison Viau, jr. M/F; Ashlyn Wood, sr. D.
KEY NEWCOMERS: Audrey Crawford, fr. M/F; Sophia Alvarez, jr. D/M; Kaitlyn Kassuba, sr. M/F; Eliabeth Pinkelman, sr. G; Sabrina Tabor, jr. D/M.; Alessa Alber, soph. D/M.
NOTABLES/OUTLOOK/COACH’S QUOTE: Cedar Springs ventured through a rebuilding season last year, posting a 7-11-3 record, six shutouts and still outscoring its foes 48-42. This season the team started 1-2-1 through April 15 with two shutouts and outscored 4-3. Still, the Red Hawks are slated to be one of the better teams in the OKC-Gold Division and district with 14 returning letterwinners.
SCHOOL: Grand Rapids Catholic Central
HEAD COACH: Natalie McHale
2023 OVERALL AND LEAGUE RECORD / FINISH: 12-8-2, 6-3-1 Ottawa Kent Conference-Gold Division (third in regular season; fourth in conference tournament; third in final standings with 11 points).
2023 STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS: Def. Kent City (8-0); def. Grand Rapids West Catholic (1-0, 2OT); def. Comstock Park (4-0, district finals); def. Grand Rapids South Christian (1-0, 2OT), regional semifinals); lost in Division 3 regional finals to Hudsonville Unity Christian (6-0).
RETURNING STARTERS: Maris Klein, jr. M/CB (All-State Third Team; All-League); Lindsay Lauria, sr. D (All-State Honorable Mention; All-League); Mo Schneider, jr. D (All-League); no other players specified.
OTHER KEY RETURNEES: Coco Brown, sr. M; Emma Mead, jr. F/M; Emma Zamzam, jr. M; Kate Passinault, sr. F; Kate Passinault, sr. F; Lauren Meerman, jr.; Alex Soltysaik, jr. F; Katherine Mancinelli, jr. F.
KEY NEWCOMERS: No players specified.
ROSTER: No List submitted.
NOTABLES/OUTLOOK/COACH’S QUOTE: Catholic Central put it all together at the right time last season. After fishing third in the OKC-Gold Division standings, the Cougars made a run to the Division 3 regional finals before falling to eventual state champion Hudsonville Unity Christian. Along the way Catholic Central upset highly-ranked Grand Rapids South Christian in the regional semifinals and South Christian was the OKC-Gold Division champions in the regular season. The Cougars did post 11 shutouts and outscored the opposition 52-39. This season CC is off to a 2-3-0 record through April 15, registering two shutouts but being outscored 12-11.
SCHOOL: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern
HEAD COACH: Bryan Lake
2023 OVERALL AND LEAGUE RECORD / FINISH: 9-7-3, 4-3-0 Ottawa Kent Conference-Gold Division (fourth)
2023 STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS: Def. Cedar Springs (3-2); lost in Division 2 district semifinals to Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (8-1).
RETURNING STARTERS: Mia Hickox, soph. G (1.84 GAA, five shutouts, 19 starts as freshman); Emme Carpenter, soph. M; Livvy Hunting, jr. M (21 goals. All-League); Reagan Carpenter, sr. D (All-League Honorable Mention); Gianna Confletti, soph. D; Abby Huffman, soph. D.
OTHER KEY RETURNEES: Anna Stewart, soph. F; Karah Debaar, jr. F.
KEY NEWCOMERS: Maya Lehnertz, sr. M; Zennia Nembhard, fr. D; Annika Roy, sr. F.
NOTABLES/OUTLOOK/COACH’S QUOTE: Even with a young team, the Hawks still posted a 46-32 scoring edge with five shutouts and finished with nine wins and a fourth-place finish in the OKC-Gold Division. This team is still somewhat young again and has started 1-3-1 through April 15. Forest Hills Eastern has been narrowly outscored 13-12 in that span. There is a solid core here to likely keep the Hawks in the top half of this league. The youth movement includes eight sophomores and three freshmen against five seniors and six juniors. … “This is a young and inexperienced team. We do not have a JV team, so we do have several girls who are playing soccer for the first time combined with very well-trained and tenured players. Our eeling is that the conference is winnable from our position. We see (Grand Rapids) South Christian as the largest competition,” said coach Bryan Lake.
SCHOOL: Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills
HEAD COACH: Dave Baird, first season.
2023 OVERALL AND LEAGUE RECORD / FINISH: 1-20-0, 0-10-0 Ottawa Kent conference-gold Division (eighth in regular season; eighth in conference tournament; eighth overall with two points).
2023 STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS: Lost in Division 2 pre-districts to Allendale (10-0).
RETURNING STARTERS: Zoe Flinsky, sr. M (All-League); no other players specified.
OTHER KEY RETURNEES: Mirka Avila-Reyes, jr.; McKenzie Calton, jr.; Lauren Crosby, soph.; Ruby Hernandez-Sanchez, soph.; Haleigh Kobza, sr.; Venessa Poore, jr.; Cassidy Smith, jr.; Lizbeth Soto-Valdovinos, sr.; Amaiyah Whitehead, sr.
KEY NEWCOMERS: Kristen Basiaga, fr.; Ireland Brown, fr.; Teagan Butkus, fr.; Isabella Hernandez-Negron, fr.; Kasey Hills, fr.; Macey Lipscomb, fr.; Morgan Ripley, fr.; Reese Willick, fr.; Donna Smith, jr.
NOTABLES/OUTLOOK/COACH’S QUOTE: Kenowa Hills is a lot like Wyoming, Muskegon, Wyoming Kelloggsvile, Wyoming Godwin Heights, Greenville and some of the other city schools or remote rural schools that simply don’t inherit a bevy of high-level and medium-level club soccer players that allow them to compete against many of the power conference schools. Any type of improvement for the Knights this season will be surly welcome as the team was blanked 18 times last season and scored only three goals. A lot of the roster returned plus Kenowa Hills brings in nine hungry freshmen to infuse some energy into the program. Through April 15, the Knights have posted a 2-4-0 record and were outscored 22-8. That’s already improvement and the team already has one shutout so far this year.
SCHOOL: Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills
HEAD COACH: Dave Baird, first season.
2023 OVERALL AND LEAGUE RECORD / FINISH: 1-20-0, 0-10-0 Ottawa Kent conference-gold Division (eighth in regular season; eighth in conference tournament; eighth overall with two points).
2023 STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS: Lost in Division 2 pre-districts to Allendale (10-0).
RETURNING STARTERS: Zoe Flinsky, sr. M (All-League); no other players specified.
OTHER KEY RETURNEES: Mirka Avila-Reyes, jr.; McKenzie Calton, jr.; Lauren Crosby, soph.; Ruby Hernandez-Sanchez, soph.; Haleigh Kobza, sr.; Venessa Poore, jr.; Cassidy Smith, jr.; Lizbeth Soto-Valdovinos, sr.; Amaiyah Whitehead, sr.
KEY NEWCOMERS: Kristen Basiaga, fr.; Ireland Brown, fr.; Teagan Butkus, fr.; Isabella Hernandez-Negron, fr.; Kasey Hills, fr.; Macey Lipscomb, fr.; Morgan Ripley, fr.; Reese Willick, fr.; Donna Smith, jr.
NOTABLES/OUTLOOK/COACH’S QUOTE: Kenowa Hills is a lot like Wyoming, Muskegon, Wyoming Kelloggsvile, Wyoming Godwin Heights, Greenville and some of the other city schools or remote rural schools that simply don’t inherit a bevy of high-level and medium-level club soccer players that allow them to compete against many of the power conference schools. Any type of improvement for the Knights this season will be surly welcome as the team was blanked 18 times last season and scored only three goals. A lot of the roster returned plus Kenowa Hills brings in nine hungry freshmen to infuse some energy into the program. Through April 15, the Knights have posted a 2-4-0 record and were outscored 22-8. That’s already improvement and the team already has one shutout so far this year.
SCHOOL: Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills
HEAD COACH: Ed Hilton
2023 OVERALL AND LEAGUE RECORD / FINISH: 5-16-1, 2-8-0 Ottawa Kent Conference-Gold Division (seventh in regular season; seventh in conference tournament; seventh overall with four points).
2023 STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS: Lost in D-1 pre-districts to East Kentwood ((8-0).
RETURNING STARTERS: Terra Workman, sr. D (All-League); no other players specified.
OTHER KEY RETURNEES: No players specified.
KEY NEWCOMERS: No players specified.
ROSTER: No list submitted.
NOTABLES/OUTLOOK/COACH’S QUOTE: Ottawa Hills started the season 2-4-1 and were outscored 24-7 in the process. The school is trying drastically to improve upon last year’s five-win season where it was outscored 102-29.Ottawa Hills is in a similar position as league rival Kenowa Hills and nearby Wyoming and Muskegon from the OKC-Green Division where there are very few high-level club soccer players suiting up for Ottawa Hills as compared to the few dozen programs in the Grand Rapids-Muskegon areas.
SCHOOL: Grand Rapids South Christian
HEAD COACH: Joel VandeKopple, first season.
2023 OVERALL AND LEAGUE RECORD/ FINISH: 16-3-2, 9-0-1 Ottawa Kent conference-Gold Division (first in regular season; first in conference tournament; first overall with 16 points)
2023 STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS: Def. Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills (8-0); def. Grand Rapids West Michigan Aviation Academy (2-0, district finals); lost in D-3 regional semifinals to Grand Rapids Catholic Central (1-0, 2OT, SO)
RETURNING STARTERS: Katelyn VanderArk, sr. M (All-State First Team, signed with NAIA Indiana Wesleyan; Olivia In’T Hout, jr. G (All-State Honorable Mention); Toria Beute, sr. D; Maci Burgess, sr. M; Alexa Boersma, jr. M/F (All-League); Hayden Donker, jr. M; Elise Kits, jr. F.
OTHER KEY RETURNEES: Kamryn Boonstra, jr.; Gabriela Burgess, sr.; Cassidy DeVries, soph.; Emerald Hoekwater, sr.; Brianna Knott, jr.; Vivian Mast, jr.; Lily Nitz, jr.; Kaylee Sarnicola, soph.; Annaliese VanderLaan, jr.
KEY NEWCOMERS: Izzy DeJong, fr. M/F; Londyn Hebner, fr. M/F; Maia Boersma, fr. D; Meredith Helmus, fr. F.
NOTABLES/OUTLOOK/COACH’S QUOTE: If it wasn’t for an upset loss, South Christian would have been in the regional finals last season and on course with powerful Hudsonville Unity Christian. Instead, an overtime setback to quality Grand Rapids Catholic Central nullified that potential matchup. This season new coach Joel VandeKopple, who orchestrated numerous Final Four teams at Division 4 Lansing Christian, inherits quite a potent bunch despite 10 players graduating. The Sailors outscored the opposition 77-14 last season with 13 shutouts and captured another Ottawa Kent Conference-Gold Division and district crowns as a top-five team in Division 3. South Christian began the year 3-1-1 through April 16 with a 14-3 scoring edge and three more shutouts.
SCHOOL: Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg
HEAD COACH: David Wood, fourth season.
2023 OVERALL AND LEAGUE RECORD/ FINISH: 15-5-1, 5-1-1 Ottawa Kent Conference-Gold Division (second in regular season; second in conference tournament; second overall)
2023 STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS: Def. Zeeland West (5-1); def. Zeeland East (3-1); def. Hamilton (1-0, district finals); lost in D-2 regional semifinals to Plainwell (1-0, 2OT).
RETURNING STARTERS: Emma Schut, sr. M (All-State Second Team; All-League; signed with NCAA Division I Southern Indiana University); Holly Velting, sr. F (All-State Honorable Mention; All-League); Maddie Chivis, jr. F/M (All-League); Emma Geukes, jr. D (All-League Honorable Mention); Paige Abshagen, soph. F/M (All-League Honorable Mention); Natalie Borrink, soph. D; Tealy Cross, soph. F/M; Ella Fisher, soph. D; McKenna Hoebeke, soph. G.
OTHER KEY RETURNEES: Cami Stahl, soph. M; Charlie Manrose, soph. M; Ember Hondorp, soph. D; Megan Schuurmans, soph. D; Katelyn Comeau, sr.; Emma Gibson, jr.; Naomi Grummet, jr.; Kaitlyn Hodges, sr.; Addyson Hoffman, jr.; Sam Johnson, sr.; Alivia Raak, sr.; Danica Smith, sr.
KEY NEWCOMERS: Addy Henry, fr. D/M; Brooklyn Nichols, fr. D; Erica Wolowicz, soph. M/F.
NOTABLES/OUTLOOK/COACH’S QUOTE: The Trojans enjoyed one of their better seasons to date in 2023, finishing second in the OKC-Gold Division and winning a Division 2 district. That included six shutouts and a 71-26 scoring edge. Thornapple-Kellogg was a hard matchup to play and they were only blanked two times with their potent offense. The second time was the lethal one, as the Trojans were ousted by Plainwell (1-0) in overtime in the regional semifinals. The bad news for opponents is that T-K only graduated two players and returns 20 letterwinners and nine starters. So far this season through April 15, the Trojans own a 5-0-0 record, outscoring the opposition 23-1 with four shutouts to break into the Division 2 Top 15 rankings.
SCHOOL: Wayland Union
HEAD COACH: Holly Hoevanaar
2023 OVERALL AND LEAGUE RECORD/ FINISH: 5-12-2, 3-6-1 Ottawa Kent conference-Gold Division (sixth in regular season; sixth in tournament; sixth overall)
2023 STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS: Lost in Division 2 pre-districts to Zeeland East (3-2)
RETURNING STARTERS: No players specified.
OTHER KEY RETURNEES: Kylee Bender, soph. D/M; Charlotte Crampton, soph. F; Abigail DeWeerd, jr. F; Anna Edwards, jr. F; Katara Gast, soph F/M; Elizabeth Hoevenaar, sr. M; Lorelai Jousma, sr. F/D; Taylor Lyon, soph. D/G; Elliott Maas, soph.; Ava Makowski, sr. M; Alexi Wallace, sr. D.
KEY NEWCOMERS: Marissa Ainsworth, fr. F/D; Morgan Brogger, fr. D/M; Ella Edwards, fr. M/F; Jaina Gless, fr. F; Kayleigh Marquard, fr. M/F; Payton Naegele, fr. D/M; Macy Schwartz, fr. D/F; Addison Wallace, fr. G; Aliza Wassenaar, fr. G; Jordon Saylor, jr. F.
NOTABLES/OUTLOOK/COACH’S QUOTE: A year ago Wayland finished with just five wins, were outscored 45-37 with four shutouts and were also blanked 10 times by the opposition. So far this year through April 15, Wayland stands at 2-2-1 with two shutouts but outscored 10-6. Only six players graduated, but there are 10 newcomers and nine of them are freshmen. The Wildcats could be a team built for the future.
(Have a story suggestion for the Premier Media Group and the Michigan Soccer Network regarding club soccer, high school varsity, amateur soccer, collegiate soccer or professional soccer of teams or players with Michigan ties, contact Communications Specialist/Web and Content Editor/Director of News Dan Stickradt via email at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com, or call 248-884-1051. Dan Stickradt is a 31-year veteran of the Michigan Media circles and recently joined the staff full time in March of 2024. Want to schedule a broadcast game or live show, contact PMG/MSN Director of Broadcasting Jonathan Turner for availability and pricing at jonathan@michigansoccernetwork.com.)
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