Top-ranked Spring Lake puts on a show in Division 2 district semifinal victory over Fruitport

By Ron Rop
LocalSportsJournal.com

FRUITPORT — The top-ranked Spring Lake Lakers overcame the heat and rival Fruitport on Tuesday in a Division 2 district soccer matchup.

The Lakers scored five goals in the opening half and cruised to an 8-1 victory over the host Trojans.

“We were solid today,” Laker coach Becky May said. “I thought our possession game was amazing, we switched the ball really, really well.

“Today, we hit the ball really well … we finished,” she said. “We had good ball movement and found the right players.”

Fruitport goalkeeper Riley Kettel makes the save. Photo/Leo Valdez

Spring Lake (15-2-2) now faces Reeths-Puffer, which defeated Ludington 5-0 in Tuesday’s second game. Earlier this season, the Lakers defeated the Rockets, 3-0.

On Tuesday, with temperatures hovering near the 90-degree mark, the Lakers were able to substitute early and often and, in fact, all 25 players on the roster saw playing time.

“For us, the key today was having momentum heading into Thursday,” May said. “You don’t want to run up goals on somebody, but it’s the state tournament.”

The scoring parade began less than nine minutes into the game when Clara Saunders pushed a loose ball into the net from close range.

Five minutes later, Ella Andree blasted a shot off the post and Phoebe Ryan punched in the rebound.

With 16:38 left in the opening half, Halvorsen scored her first of three goals with a high shot from the middle of the field.

Just a minute later, Spring Lake went up 4-0 when Clara Howe fired a free kick from 30 yard out that Andree redirected into the net.

A miscue on the backline and a hustle play by Fruitport’s Mallory Smith led to the Trojans’ only goal. Smith stepped into a passing lane, intercepted the ball and moved in and fired a low shot that eluded Laker goalkeeper Jessica Stewart.

Halvorsen scored with 12:24 left in the half with an assist from Kyle Shelton. The scoring play began out on the right wing when Andree, with a full head of steam, broke toward the goal before feeding a pass to Shelton.

Fruitport goalkeeper Riley Kettel prevented further damage when she stopped a penalty kick by Saunders with 9:42 left in the half.

A header goal by Lauren Cavalier and a tap-in by Andree made it 7-1 in the first 16 minutes of the second half. Keile Stephenson assisted on Andree’s goal.

Halvorsen completed her hat trick with 17:22 remaining to account for the game’s final goal.

“This is a rivalry game for these girls and they know the strength of that program,” Fruitport coach Chris Belasco said. “They know it’s going to be a tough game and getting over that mental side of it has been a struggle. We’re making steps toward the better side of it, but still, it’s a big step we’re going to have to climb up.”