By Seth Vanderwest
LocalSportsJournal.com

CEDAR SPRINGS–The North Muskegon girls soccer team nearly pulled off an against-all-odds victory, but fell short on Wednesday in the Division 4 state semifinals.

The Norsemen were defeated by Kalamazoo Christian 3-1 in overtime.

North Muskegon played without leader Kennedi Koekkoek, who had a controversial red card in the previous match that forced her to sit out the game. Sam Johnson’s cast-protected broken arm – which she played with throughout the tournament after breaking it in the first round against Ravenna. There also were various other injuries for the Norse.

North Muskegon also battled down a goal for nearly the entire game, as the Comets scored less than 5 minutes into the match to take a 1-0 lead they would hold for most of the game.

Photo/David Reid

After the early goal against, the Norsemen stiffened up on the defensive end. Emma Lamiman had several crucial saves, and defender Abby Martinez fought through a neck injury as North Muskegon made it to halftime still down just 1-0. 

Halftime adjustments helped give the Norsemen new life after the break.

“[Kalamazoo Christian] comes really hard at the soccer ball with pressure,” said North Muskegon coach Caleb Parnin. “We handled it as the game went on, and we had to give our defenders more options with some people coming back. We think that opened up play a little bit.”

The adjustments clearly had a major effect as the Norsemen controlled possession and pace for the majority of the second half. Their physicality also seemed to throw the Comets off their game. North Muskegon found several chances, but could not connect until Johnson drew a foul just outside the left corner of the penalty box. Senior Natalie Panucci took the resulting free kick, which soared over the Kalamazoo Christian keeper and into the far corner of the net.

Both teams fought furiously to put in a tie-breaking goal, and in the final minute alone, both teams nearly had game-winning goals. But when the dust settled, it was still 1-1 at the end of regulation.

Photo/David Reid

That forced the teams into two, 10-minute overtime periods to determine a winner. In the first overtime, both Panucci and Johnson had shots that nearly went in. The Norsemen continued to control the majority of possession throughout the 10-minute overtime period. 

But the period ended with no goals scored. 

Just a minute into the second overtime, Kalamazoo Christian sailed a corner kick to the far post where it was volleyed in by a Comet. They scored once more with 4 minutes remaining to seal the victory and a berth in the state finals.

Even down 3-1 with little time, the Norsemen fought, nearly scoring twice in the final minutes.

“Unbelievable effort from the girls,” said Parnin. “They would’ve played another full game at that point – they just wanted to keep playing. Just look how close we got at the end there with almost no time left. This whole season they worked incredibly hard.

“[Kalamazoo Christian] didn’t outwork us tonight,” he said. “They put a couple more in, but they didn’t outwork us. And I appreciate that kind of effort from the girls.”

North Muskegon’s stellar season ends with conference, district, and regional trophies and a 17-4-1 record. Kalamazoo Christian advances to play Clarkston Everest Collegiate in the Division 4 final on Saturday. 

Photos provided by photographer David Reid