Performance: Gull Lake's Reagan Wisser
May 17, 2018
Reagan Wisser
Richland Gull Lake junior – Soccer
The Blue Devils’ all-state forward helped deliver her team a league title and a little bit of vengeance May 9, scoring two goals in Gull Lake’s 3-0 win over Portage Central that clinched the regular-season Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference championship and earned Wisser the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.” Wisser then scored two more goals in Monday’s SMAC Tournament semifinal win over Mattawan and all three in Wednesday’s championship game as Gull Lake pulled out a 3-2 overtime victory again over the rival Mustangs.
Gull Lake is 14-0-1 this spring and ranked No. 2 in Division 2, while Portage Central is up to No. 5 in Division 1 in this week’s state coaches association poll. This is the first year all SMAC teams are back in one division; Gull Lake won the last five SMAC East girls soccer championships, and last week’s win made six straight regular-season titles. But those Portage Central victories also meant a little more – during last season’s SMAC Tournament, the Mustangs ended Gull Lake’s four-year league winning streak.
The Blue Devils won three straight Division 2 titles from 2013-15 with Wisser’s older sister Riley playing a prominent role, and Reagan is working to lead Gull Lake back to that former height. A three-year starter, she has 29 goals and five assists this spring and is up to 69 goals for her career. Wisser already is set to continue her career after high school at Western Michigan University, and she carries a 4.0 grade-point average with plans to study nursing.
Coach Jeff Corstange said: “Reagan started out her freshman year trying to fit into our system, understand our system, and sophomore year she grasped onto it. (This season) she’s taken the team under her wings and flown with it. … She’s peaked into a tremendous soccer player. I kinda expected (this success), but I don’t think she expected it. Last year when she was getting man marked, she’d get frustrated. She’d get angry that she didn’t score, didn’t contribute to the team. Now she understands that she’s getting man marked but finding ways with her teammates to get open. She’s getting creative, and we tried to stress with her to be creative. … She’s even better off the field – she’s one of the nicest people you’ll meet.”
Performance Point: “It just shows no matter who we play, we are going to come out and do our best and give everything we’ve got to beat them,” Wisser said of the two Portage Central wins. “Last year they beat us, and we also lost our SMAC championship last year, so we had a lot more energy going in. We knew what it felt like to be on the other side, and we didn’t want that to happen again. … (Wednesday) night was super exciting, and we knew going in it would be a game determined by who wanted it more. Throughout the game, we picked up our intensity – and we won because we wanted it more. Definitely, I try to step up as much as I can, but I couldn’t have done it without the help of my teammates encouraging me and pushing me to be my best.”
Time to lead: “I’ve definitely stepped up my leadership role and encouraged others to step up on the field and to be the best they can be every game, because you never know when it can be your last. I looked up to our past captains the years before and how they picked up each and every player and showed them that they can be their best every game. Especially with the team this year, it’s pretty easy to pick each other up, push each other to play harder and play for everyone else around you. … (Leading) actually makes me a better person, makes me want to step up and it makes me want to play harder for my teammates.”
Winning formula: “The team chemistry that we have is nothing like we’ve had in the years before, and I think this year everybody just wants it more. In years before, when people have made mistakes, we kinda just ignored it and we thought they were hanging their heads. But this year, if anyone makes a mistake, everybody’s surrounding them, and (saying) ‘You’ll get the next one,’ and everybody just picks each other up – and it’s just so much more fun to play that way. It makes a huge difference. If you miss a shot, your teammates aren’t going to be mad at you, and you’ll try your best to get the next one. It picks you up as a player and makes you want to play harder for your teammates.”
Mentors to follow: “I just remember watching (my sister’s) games and watching her playing in the state finals, and all the excitement that she had. It made me want to be in her position, made me want to win states. She told me to just keep my head up, and everything will play out as long as you play as a team and play together. … Grace Labadie, she played at Loy Norrix and is at Western now; I played against her my freshman and sophomore year, and she’s just so amazing on and off the ball, and she just was a great teammate to watch and play against. She taught me some moves, and she just talks to me after games and tells me things I did well and things I can improve on. When we’d beat her in games, she always kinda got mad, but she was like, ‘You need to stop being so good.’ It is (a big compliment).”
Paging Nurse Wisser: “Western has a great nursing program … and it really gets me excited for the future. Ever since I was little, I wanted to go into the medical field because I love helping people in any way that I can.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2017-18 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2017-18 honorees:
May 10: Clayton Sayen, Houghton track & field - Read
May 3: Autumn Roberts, Traverse City Central tennis - Read
April 26: Thomas Robinson, Wyoming Lee track & field - Read
March 29: Carlos Johnson, Benton Harbor basketball - Read
March 22: Shine Strickland-Gills, Saginaw Heritage basketball - Read
March 15: Skyler Cook-Weeks, Holland Christian swimming - Read
March 8: Dakota Greer, Howard City Tri-County wrestling - Read
March 1: Camree' Clegg, Wayne Memorial basketball - Read
February 23: Aliah Robertson, Sault Ste. Marie swimming - Read
February 16: Austin O'Hearon, Eaton Rapids wrestling - Read
February 9: Sophia Wiard, Muskegon Oakridge basketball - Read
February 2: Brenden Tulpa, Hartland hockey - Read
January 25: Brandon Whitman, Dundee wrestling - Read
January 18: Derek Maas, Holland West Ottawa swimming - Read
January 11: Lexi Niepoth, Bellaire basketball - Read
November 30: La'Darius Jefferson, Muskegon football - Read
November 23: Ashley Turak, Farmington Hills Harrison swimming - Read
November 16: Bryce Veasley, West Bloomfield football - Read
November 9: Jose Penaloza, Holland soccer - Read
November 2: Karenna Duffey, Macomb L'Anse Creuse North cross country - Read
October 26: Anika Dy, Traverse City West golf - Read
October 19: Andrew Zhang, Bloomfield Hills tennis - Read
October 12: Nolan Fugate, Grand Rapids Catholic Central football - Read
October 5: Marissa Ackerman, Munising tennis - Read
September 28: Minh Le, Portage Central soccer - Read
September 21: Olivia Theis, Lansing Catholic cross country - Read
September 14: Maddy Chinn, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Richland Gull Lake's Reagan Wisser (5) pushes the ball upfield during a game this season. (Middle) Wisser works to get around a defender. (Photos courtesy of the Gull Lake athletic department.)
Bolstered by Bonnema, Kalamazoo Christian Adds 2nd Win of 4-Year Finals Run
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 14, 2025
EAST LANSING – Kalamazoo Christian girls soccer coach Jay Allen was asking a lot of senior midfielder Jordyn Bonnema during Saturday’s Division 4 Final at Michigan State University.
Bonnema was tasked with tracking Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett’s Kerith Short around the field, and making sure the Knights’ leading scorer didn’t get free.
Just as Allen expected, Bonnema did her part, and then some.
The Kalamazoo Christian senior scored a pair of goals and made life difficult for Short in the Comets’ 4-1 victory at DeMartin Stadium.
“She’s just a pure athlete,” Allen said. “She was bound and determined to win. It’s not just in soccer – it’s golf, it’s in basketball, it’s in the classroom, she’s a 3.9 student. The kid doesn’t know a loss. She’s driven.”
The title was the sixth in program history for the Comets, and second in three years. They were making their fourth-straight Finals appearance, having lost in a shootout a year ago against Jackson Lumen Christi.
For Bonnema, who had played in all four of those Finals, walking away as runner-up again was not an option.
“This is my last time in the black and gold, or purple and gold, and it’s bittersweet, but I just wanted to give it my all,” she said. “This has been such a long ride. Soccer was my first sport, I picked it up when I was 3 years old. To be here, stepping on the field for maybe the last time in my life, there can be no regrets. So I was just coming into the game with that mentality, that this might be the last time I’m ever going to lace up the cleats, so making sure I left nothing behind and leave it all on the field. I’m just super grateful for the opportunity to play for such an amazing program and with my best friends.”
Bonnema scored the second and third goals for Kalamazoo Christian, twice giving her team a two-goal lead in the second half. Izzy Suloff and Laila Rashid also scored, while Avery Lambarth had two assists and Rachel Miller had one.
Kalamazoo Christian keeper Kailey Triemstra had nine saves. Most came on shots from outside the box, as the Comets defense, led by Maysen Steensma, did a good job of limiting opportunities for the Knights.
“I give them a lot of credit; they were defensively really solid,” Liggett coach David Dwaihy said. “They were really organized. They’d bend, but they didn’t break. They did all the things championship teams do defensively, and their goalie was there for them when they needed. Full credit to them, they deserve that. I thought that we did give them a good game, though, and I thought we represented ourselves really well and played with a style we can feel really good about.”
Short did score the lone goal for Liggett, bending in an Olimpico off a corner kick, after she had created the best scoring chance of the afternoon for her team, cutting inside on a defender and getting off a shot that deflected wide.
It was clear, though, each time she touched the ball that the Comets were determined to not give her any space to work.
“Our gameplan was Jordyn Bonnema,” Allen said. “Jordyn Bonnema was told you just can’t let her beat us. Jordyn just shadowed her, made sure she didn’t get clean looks, and that’s where we were at. We also fall back on Maysen Steensma, who is a solid brick wall back there, and kind of organized things. It was just a group effort.”
Kalamazoo Christian, which arrived late to the 2024 Final after its bus broke down, got off to a quick start Saturday, scoring within the first three minutes. Suloff collected the ball near the top of the box, created space to her right and fired a shot over the head of Liggett keeper Aline Rahaim, who had six saves on the day.
The second half opened much the same, as Bonnema scored less than three minutes in, charging into the box and getting on the end of a cross from Lambarth, making it 2-0.
While that looked to have killed momentum Liggett had been building through the end of the first half, the Knights found their answer five minutes later with Short’s goal.
“I think in the first half it helped us; in a weird way, I think it kind of woke us up,” Dwaihy said. “While playing from behind, we were a little more relaxed, and that ‘Let’s play to win’ vibe, as opposed to playing not to lose. It really favored us for the rest of the half. The next 37 minutes, we worked our way into the game and got some chances, but more importantly, we held a lot of the possession. That was key, because as we started to lose that in the second half, tired legs started to set in and the game got away from us.”
Bonnema made it a two-goal game again, scoring with a header off Miller’s corner with 10:14 to play.
“It’s for sure a little more reassuring, but we’re still back on defense and for sure not ready (to celebrate) until the clock hits zero,” Bonnema said. “It was nice to have a little bit of a gap, though, for sure.”
When Rashid followed up Lambarth’s shot and made it 4-1 with 7:05 to go, however, the die was cast, and it was clear the Comets would be lifting the trophy.
“This senior class has been here four times, so to end their senior year like this is special for them,” Allen said. “They are just such a hard-working group, and with all the hard work they put in, we were knocking off teams we shouldn’t have been and we got here. This week, and the last two days of practice, you could tell they wanted it, and we didn’t quit for 80 minutes.”
PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Christian players celebrate during their Division 4 championship win Saturday at DeMartin Stadium. (Middle) The Comets’ Jordyn Bonnema (21) marks University Liggett’s Aubrey Hermann. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)