May 106 min read

THURSDAY’S GIRLS SOCCER ROUNDUP Plainwell clinches another Wolverine title; Portage Central, Marian, Hudsonville, Marshall, Oakland Christian add wins to the tally

THURSDAY’S GIRLS SOCCER ROUNDUP: Plainwell clinches another Wolverine title; Portage Central, Marian, Hudsonville, Marshall, Oakland Christian add wins to the tally

PLAINWELL, Mich. – Since the inception of the Wolverine Conference back in the 1980s, Plainwell has won more championships in girls soccer than any other school.

Nothing has changed this season.

The Trojans clinched at least a tie of another Wolverine Conference title with a resounding 3-0 victory over challenger Vicksburg. Plainwell, which is ranked fourth in Division 2 and reached the Final Four last season, captured its fourth straight title and 22nd overall since the league first began sponsoring back in 1988.

Since dropping its season open to Hudsonville (4-0), the top-ranked team in Division 1 and a state runner-up last year, the Trojans have been on an offensive tear this season despite losing several key players to graduation or to ECNL club teams. Plainwell (13-1-1, 7-0-0) has outscored the opposition 75-6 this season and has not let its foot off the pedal.

The only other team to score on the Trojans were Division 1 Battle Creek Lakeview (1-1 tie) while the last goal that Plainwell has allowed came on May 1 in a 3-1 Wolverine Conference victory over Otsego.

As a whole, Plainwell owns 12 shutouts in 15 games this season and posted clean sheets in 11 of their last 12 games. In that 12-game stretch, Plainwell has outscored its opposition 71-1.

That’s right, the Plainwell back line and goalkeepers have conceded just one goal in its 12-game win streak and only two goals in April and the first week of May. Sophomores Mackenzie Meert and Olivia Ranger have been the goalkeepers this season after Eliza Harris graduated from last year’s Final Four run.

The offensive prowess and defensive domination continued Thursday against Vicksburg.

Kayla Barr scored what proved to be the game winner in the first half, chasing down a through ball from teammate Brooklyn Timpe and lacing a shot past Vicksburg goalkeeper Audra Krueger for her team-leading 35th goal of the season.

Timpe blasted home a free kick in the 67th minute for a 2-0 advantage, while Barr struck again and capped the scoring late with an insurance tally with her 36th tally of the campaign.

Vicksburg dropped to 11-4-2 overall and 6-1-0 in league play.

MICHIGAN SOCCER NETWORK 10, OPPOSITION 0: Reporting scores to the Michigan Soccer Network has never been easier. MSN will compile a random sampling of game results from around the state each day. To send in results from high school varsity, club, amateur, pre-pro, semi-pro, college or professional soccer, email all pertinent details to Communications Specialist / Web and Content Editor / Director of News Dan Stickradt at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com or submit information right on the correct link on the MSN website at www.michigansoccernetwork.com. Go to MSN News in the upper left corner, scroll down to Report A Score and send in all of the pertinent information from your contest or tournament.

PORTAGE CENTRAL 3, ST. JOSEPH 0: Just a couple of days after a tornado ventured through Portage, the Mustangs took their show on the road to defeat St. Joseph and remain in first place in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference with this win. Portage Central clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and pitched its ninth overall shutout and seventh in conference play, which features 10 schools and nine conference games before the tournament. The Mustangs (10-2-1, 8-1-0) have now outscored its opposition 48-5 this season, including 37-3 in conference play. Portage Central, ranked seventh in Division 1, gave up two goals in a 2-1 league loss to Richland-Gull Lake April 24 and conceded on goal to defending league champion Mattawan in a 3-1 win on April 17. The only other goals yielded by the Mustangs’ stingy defense – which has a 0.39 team goals-against-average – were Grand Haven (1-1) tie and Division 2 second-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (1-0). Portage Central reached the Division 1 regional finals the last two years.

BIRMINGHAM MARIAN 1, ROCHESTER STONEY CREEK 0: Claire Dauer proved its never too late to come through in the clutch. The sophomore scored with one-minute remaining Thursday and the Division 2 state-ranked Mustangs (9-2-3) escaped with the non-conference victory. Nia Bordogna drew an assist and Dani Mertz recorded Marian’s ninth shutout on the year and added to a defensive effort that has posted a 0.43 goals-against-average over 14 games. Marian has outscored its opposition 29-6 this season.

HUDSONVILLE 8, GRANDVILLE 0: Hudsonville’s dominance on the soccer pitch continued Thursday with this lopsided win over the Bulldogs in Ottawa Kent Conference-Red Division play. The Division 1 top-ranked Eagles moved to 10-0-2 overall and 7-0-1 in league play, and advanced in the OKC-Red Division as the top seed in the conference tournament. Hudsonville recorded its ninth shutout of the season and have outscored its 12 foes 47-6 with only three schools even scoring on the Eagles.

MARSHALL 8, BATTLE CREEK PENNFIELD 0: Eliza MacQuiag scored her first two goals of the season and Marshall continued its 10-game unbeaten streak with this Interstate 8 Athletic Conference victory over eight-win Pennfield Thursday night. The Redhawks (8-3-3, 5-0-0) scored five goals in the first half before scoring three more goals in the first 13 minutes of the second half to end the game via mercy. Stefanie DeLong added a goal and two assists, while Olivia Rozell had a goal and three assists for Marshall. Addie Waito, Anya Burghdorf, Malena Johnson and Nicole Ladd also scored for Marshall, while Alyson Zulewski notched her fifth shutout of the campaign and her team’s sixth clean sheet overall. Marshall is 8-0-2 in its last 10 games with five shutouts in that stretch.

AUBURN HILLS OAKLAND CHRISTIAN 3, BIRMINGHAM ROEPER 1: Jessica Reyes, Leah Zarrilli and Rowan Klein scored for the Lancers in the MIAC win. Veronica Austin gained the victory between the framework for Oakland Christian (10-2-0, 5-0-0), which handed Roeper (6-4-2, 4-1-1) its first league loss and remained in the title hunt in the process. Only Plymouth Christian (5-0-1) ai ahead of Oakland Christian in the points category in the league, holding a 16-15 advantage on the Lancers with Roeper in third with 13 points.

NOTE: Reporting scores to the Michigan Soccer Network has never been easier. MSN will compile a random sampling of game results from around the state each day. To send in results from high school varsity, club, amateur, pre-pro, semi-pro or professional soccer, email all pertinent details to Communications Specialist / Web and Content Editor / Director of News Dan Stickradt at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com or submit information right on the correct link on the MSN website.

(MSN will compile a random sampling of game results from around the state each day. To send in results from high school varsity, club, amateur, pre-pro, semi-pro or professional soccer, email all pertinent details to Communications Specialist / Web and Content Editor / Director of News Dan Stickradt at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com or submit information right on the correct link on the MSN website.)