Harbor Springs Strikes Early, Shuts Down Shrine to Claim 1st Finals Title
By
Brian Freiberger
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2026
EAST LANSING – Harbor Springs returned to an MHSAA girls soccer championship game Friday for the first time since finishing Division 4 runner-up in 2001.
The Rams departed with their first Finals title after a marvelous 2-0 win over Royal Oak Shrine Catholic at DeMartin Stadium.
"This is incredible and I'm proud of the team," Harbor Springs junior Stefi Reskevics said. "From the start of the season we knew that we had to do something great."
Shrine got out on the front foot to start, but eventually, the Rams would find their rhythm after the 10-minute mark.
Nearly halfway through the first half, Harbor Springs senior Sophie Barnadyn flipped the field and found a wide-open Reskevics for a couple of touches and a rocket from outside the box that passed the Knights goalkeeper.
The Rams had many chances throughout the first half, but most of those opportunities were turned away by Shrine junior defender Maddie Malkowski.
Harbor Springs would go into the break with a sizeable control on the time of possession and shots on goal.
"This puts Harbor Springs on the map, and this program has been very successful since 2001," Harbor Springs coach Aaron Riley said. "I'm glad that we won it for that team. The ladies appreciate the community support."
Both teams would go back and forth throughout the start of the second half.
Shrine came out strong again, but the Rams turned away multiple chances.
Both teams battled in the midfield until Reskevics was injured at midfield halfway through the period.
Harbor Springs senior Lizzie Bassett received a free kick after the injury that turned into a breakaway and a penalty kick after the goalkeeper committed a foul inside of the box.
Bassett managed to find the net with a low left-side shot to give the Rams a commanding 2-0 lead.
"It's crazy that we made school history. This is the best team that we could have done it with. We worked really hard all season, and I'm just proud of everyone that we accomplished our goal," she said.
Shrine would have multiple opportunities throughout the rest of the game but couldn't find the back of the net thanks to great play from sophomore goalkeeper Lillian McShannock to complete the shutout.
The goal for the Rams (20-1-2) was to slow down Shrine sophomore Julia Kraemer, who led the Knights in goals this season. Lilly Barnadyn and Makenna Brey led the defense.
The Knights ended their season with an 11-9-2 record.
"We played really well despite the score. We had a wide-open shot in the first five minutes and didn't put it away," Shrine coach Mark Soma said. "We did everything we wanted to do as a group, and as a team you can't complain about that. Sometimes you just lose games because the team gets one or two more opportunities than you do.
Harbor Springs did a good job and scored when they needed to. ... It just seemed it was one of those days where they weren't going in. ... We played a great game, and the girls should be proud."
PHOTOS (Top) Harbor Springs players celebrate during Friday’s Division 4 championship win at DeMartin Stadium. (Middle) Harbor Springs’ Meme Animikwam (13) and Shrine’s Samantha Donley make contact with the ball at the same time. (Below) ,Donley (9) battles the Rams’ Addison Zulski (14) for possession. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Top-Ranked Rangers Finish Run to #1
June 17, 2017
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
WILLIAMSTON – Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central girls soccer coach Jeremy Stacy technically had an MHSAA championship on his coaching resume before Saturday, but he wasn’t there that day to experience it.
In his first year leading the Rangers’ program back in 2008, Stacy got married on the same day they won the Division 2 title.
On Saturday though, no wedding vows or cake cutting prevented him from experiencing what it was like to win the ultimate prize.
Behind second-half goals from senior Bailey Korhorn and sophomore Ashley Ward, Forest Hills Central won its first-ever Division 1 championship with a 2-0 win over Grand Blanc.
Forest Hills Central had previously won Division 2 championships in 2005, 2007 and 2008.
Adding to the title for Stacy was that the victory came on his wife’s birthday, three days after his wedding anniversary and a day before he planned on celebrating Father’s Day with his four children.
“It feels really good,” Stacy said. “It was cool to see the atmosphere here. Regardless of the result, it is fun to be in a state final. But it is much cooler to be on the winning end, that’s for sure.”
The championship also capped off a season where Forest Hills Central had to carry the target of being the state’s No. 1-ranked team for a majority of it.
“It was kind of a struggle sometimes,” Stacy said. “We had so much pressure that we weren’t having as much fun as we needed to have to get better. We had a little talk about that midseason. We had more fun and got better in the process.”
After a first half that featured few scoring chances, Forest Hills Central opened the scoring 10 minutes into the second on a goal by Korhorn, who has signed to continue her career at University of Cincinnati.
Korhorn got the ball at the top of the box, turned and fired a laser into the left corner of the net to make it 1-0 Rangers.
“I took a touch and shot it top-left,” Korhorn said. “As soon as I saw it hit the back of the net, it was unreal. It was the best feeling of my life.
“What a great four years I’ve had here at Central. I’ll miss it so much.”
Forest Hills Central (21-0-4) then added an insurance goal with 5:48 remaining when Ward headed in a chance in front of the goal after a prior opportunity hit the crossbar.
“It was a great game and great opponent,” Grand Blanc coach Greg Kehler said. “They finished their chances, and we didn’t. It’s not like we didn’t have good opportunities. Hats off to them.”
Grand Blanc was attempting to win its first MHSAA title following losses in the 2015 and 2004 title games, and saw its season end with a 22-3-4 record.
“I’m the Bud Grant and Marv Levy of high school soccer,” Kehler joked, referring to former NFL coaches who lost a combined eight Super Bowls. “They lost four and I’ve lost (three). But it’s a battle to get here, and we’ll keep battling to get back. It will turn over one day.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Forest Hills Central’s Stephanie Curry (14) maintains possession while Grand Blanc’s Samantha Lewis defends. (Middle) Grand Blanc’s Lara Wheeler (5) and the Rangers’ Madison Donley battle for control of the ball.