BY DAN STICKRADT
WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR
Twitter: @MiSoccerNetwork
HASTINGS, Mich. – If there is one constant during the spring months in Michigan it’s the unpredictable weather.
That, and Marshall winning conference championships in girls soccer.
Marshall paid a visit to Hastings for the final Interstate 8 Athletic Conference matchup Thursday night and made the trip more than worth it with a 2-0 victory over the Saxons.
The win wrapped up a perfect 6-0-0 season inside the now seven-school conference – Jackson Lumen Christi departed last July – and the Redhawks were simply dominant inside the conference this season. Marshall outscored its league foes 28-1 with five shutouts in six games.
Overall, the Redhawks are 9-3-3 overall and have outscored the opposition 40-14 with seven clean sheets.
It marks Marshall’s ninth consecutive league championship – one of the state’s longest streaks in terms of claiming consecutive conference titles – and the Redhawks have won at least a share of every league title in Interstate 8 Athletic Conference history.
The league was formed back before the 2014-15 school year and Marshall captured league crowns from 2015-2019, followed by the 2020 season being cancelled in Michigan due to Covid-related lockdowns, then resumed in 2021 and captured four more league crowns (2021-2024).
Against Hastings (9-5-1, 2-3-1), Marshall finally broke through in the 20th minute for what proved to be the game-winner. Passes from Stefanie DeLong and Addison Waito set up Anaya Burghdorf with a close-range sitter and Burghdorf deposited her shot into an empty net for the 1-0 advantage. It marked just Burghdorf’s second goal of the season but second in the last two games for the Redhawks, who are 7-0-3 in their last 10 games.
The lead stood at 1-0 until the 63rd minute when Jordyn St. John and Ollie Rozell set up Waito near the top of the 18 and in open space Waito uncorked a banger for her team-leading 13th goal of the season and a two-goal advantage. Waito has now scored in five consecutive contests for Marshall. Rozell has now registered at least one helper in the last four contests for the Division 2 14th-ranked Redhawks.
Aly Zulewski commanded her box with authority, making five saves and routinely snaring crosses and set pieces out of harm’s way for her fifth league shutout and seventh clean sheet of the campaign.
Marshall will wrap up the regular season with a May 17 road game at Otsego, which is listed as honorable mention in the Division 2 rankings. The Redhawks earned a first-round by in their Division 2 district and will face the winner of the Jackson Northwest-Parma Western pre-district contest May 28 at 5 p.m. at Mason High School.
(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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