Preview: Several of History's Best Back to Make More, New Contenders Seek to Join Them
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 11, 2026
An impressive sampling of MHSAA girls soccer history's championship leaders will be finishing the 2026 seasons this weekend at Michigan State’s DeMartin Stadium.
The most titanic matchup of this Finals weekend may be in Division 2, where 13-time champion Hudsonville Unity Christian will face nine-time champion Bloomfield Hills Marian in the season’s final match Saturday afternoon. They rank first and third, respectively, in Finals titles in this sport.
Detroit Country Day is making its 12th trip to a championship match, Troy is making its eighth and Royal Oak Shrine Catholic will be playing in its fourth.
On the other side are Rockford, Grand Rapids West Catholic and Harbor Springs, all seeking their first championship in this sport.
Following is this weekend’s schedule at Michigan State University:
Division 1 - Friday - 4 p.m.
Troy vs. Rockford
Division 2 - Saturday - 4 p.m.
Bloomfield Hills Marian vs. Hudsonville Unity Christian
Division 3 - Saturday - 1 p.m.
Detroit Country Day vs. Grand Rapids West Catholic
Division 4 - Friday - 1 p.m.
Royal Oak Shrine Catholic vs. Harbor Springs
Tickets cost $11 and may be purchased online only at GoFan. One ticket is good for all soccer, softball and baseball games at MSU’s Old College Field that day. All four Finals will be broadcast and available with subscription from MHSAA.tv.
Below is a glance at all eight contenders, with statistics through Regionals:
Division 1
ROCKFORD
Record/rank: 21-2, No. 10
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Red
Coach: Stu Quackenbush, sixth season (72-15-13)
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Audrey Muterspaugh, sr. F (10 goals, 22 assists); Grace Young, sr. D (6 goals, 4 assists); Laney Carlson, sr. M (9 goals, 7 assists); Sawyer Lenon, sr. M (8 goals, 3 assists).
Outlook: Rockford has followed up its first Regional championship with its first trip to the Finals and built toward this over the last three seasons with a third-straight league title and second-straight District championship kicking off this run. Carlson, Lenon, Muterspaugh and Young all earned all-state honorable mentions last season and make up part of an overall balanced lineup. Ten players had scored between 5-10 goals entering this week, including as well seniors Reese Petack (10 goals, 7 assists) and Sydney DeKuiper (10/4). Senior keeper Kaia Slanger entered the week with nine shutouts and a 0.41 goals-against average while splitting time in net.
TROY
Record/rank: 17-3-2, No. 8
League finish: Third in Oakland Activities Association Red
Coach: Tony Casali, first season (17-3-2)
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2013), four runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Olivia Jasniewicz, sr. F (13 goals, 11 assists); Sabrina Gaul, sr. F (15 goals, 7 assists); Emma Rozek, sr. D (1 goal, 3 assists); Maren Swan, sr. M (7 goals, 9 assists).
Outlook: This will be Troy’s first Final since its most recent championship season, and the Colts earned it in part with wins over No. 3 Rochester Adams and No. 13 Troy Athens along the way. Casali took over the program this year after leading Sterling Heights Stevenson to a league title in 2025, and Troy is seven wins better this spring than last. Jasniewicz made the all-state first team last season, and Rozek and Gaul earned honorable mentions. Senior Kennedy Brudenell and junior Kiera Gallihugh have combined in goal to give up fewer than one per game.
Division 2
BLOOMFIELD HILLS MARIAN
Record/rank: 21-2, No. 3
League finish: First in Catholic High School League Central
Coach: Danny Price, third season (52-9-4)
Championship history: Nine MHSAA titles (most recent 2021), five runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Clair Dauer, sr. CM (10 goals, 4 assists), Leah Nalichowski, jr. F (28 goals, 15 assists); Nia Bordogna, jr. M (10 goals, 21 assists); Emma Wyciskalla, soph. F (20 goals, 10 assists);
Outlook: Marian has finished runner-up twice, in 2022 and 2024, since winning its most recent championship, and the Mustangs enter this decider having won its first five postseason games by a combined score of 26-2. That run has included defeating No. 5 DeWitt, No. 10 New Boston Huron and No. 13 Waterford Kettering. Bordogna and Dauer both made the all-state first team last season, while sophomore keeper Olivia Bussa (0.26 goals-against average) and Wyciskalla earned honorable mentions.
HUDSONVILLE UNITY CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 23-0, No. 1
League finish: First in O-K Black
Coach: Randy Heethuis, 37th season (687-105-44)
Championship history: Thirteen MHSAA titles (most recent 2025), four runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Ava Steen, sr. D (6 goals, 5 assists); Addison Pell, sr. M (7 goals, 2 assists); Kyla Kobrzycki, jr. M/F (18 goals, 23 assists); Tessa Ponstein, sr. F (21 goals, 8 assists).
Outlook: Unity Christian is pursuing a fourth-straight Finals championship – which would tie for the second-longest streak behind its record six straight from 2005-10. The Crusaders also haven’t lost a game since May 22, 2024, a run of 54 without a defeat and only three ties among them. A shutout of Marian would also give Unity a fourth-straight playoffs without giving up a goal. Steen made the all-state first team last year, Kobrzycki and Ponstein made the second and Pell earned an honorable mention. Sophomore Olivia Walters had added 11 goals and 10 assists entering the week, and senior keeper Payton Barendsen has given up only one goal all season.
Division 3
DETROIT COUNTRY DAY
Record/rank: 13-4-3, No. 3
League finish: Does not play in a conference.
Coach: Laura Hamway, 11th season (113-58-19)
Championship history: Six MHSAA titles (most recent 2021), five runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Jenna Shaban, sr.; Megan Mateer, jr.; Charlotte Hartley, jr.; Georgia Hopkins, jr.; Julia Goetz, jr. (No positions or statistics provided.)
Outlook: Country Day defeated top-ranked Goodrich 1-0 in their Semifinal to advance to Finals weekend for the first time since 2021. The Yellowjackets have given up only one goal over five playoff games and have shutouts in seven of their last nine overall. Shaban and Mateer made the all-state first team last season, and Hartley, Hopkins and Goetz earned honorable mentions.
GRAND RAPIDS WEST CATHOLIC
Record/rank: 18-5-2, No. 7
League finish: Third in O-K Gold.
Coach: Ryan Smith, seventh season (74-44-16)
Championship history: Has not played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Katelyn Adams, sr. GK (0.72 goals-against average, 12 shutouts); Lexy Druelle, fr. M (13 goals, 14 assists); Hadley Giradot, jr. M (8 goals, 13 assists); Kenley Slanger, soph. F (34 goals, 7 assists).
Outlook: West Catholic won its first Regional title as well this spring and got here with wins over No. 2 Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, No. 5 Grand Rapids West Michigan Aviation Academy and No. 10 Traverse City St. Francis. It’s also been a great jump off last season’s 8-9-4 finish. Slanger made the all-state second team last spring and Adams earned an honorable mention, and they’ve played major parts in the Falcons taking that big step. Junior Avery Dusseau (10 goals/3 assists) is another top scorer.
Division 4
HARBOR SPRINGS
Record/rank: 19-1-1, No. 9
League finish: First in Northern Shores Conference
Coach: Aaron Riley, 11th season (122-74-12)
Championship history: Division 4 runner-up 2001.
Players to watch: Stefi Reskevics, jr. F (25 goals, 8 assists); Fran Warren, sr. M; Maeve Riley, fr. F (16 goals, 19 assists); Lilly Barnadyn, sr. M (12 goals, 4 assists). (Limited statistics provided.)
Outlook: Harbor Springs is up to a combined 34-4-2 over the last two seasons and won its first Regional title since 2003. The Rams have defeated No. 7 Kalamazoo Christian and No. 13 Elk Rapids on the way, with their lone loss to Leland at the end of April. Reskevics made the all-state second team last season, and Warren earned an honorable mention. Warren also is one of only four senior starters.
ROYAL OAK SHRINE CATHOLIC
Record/rank: 11-8-3, No. 8
League finish: Sixth in CHSL AA
Coach: Mark Soma, 23rd season (record N/A)
Championship history: Division 4 champion 2019 and 2022, runner-up 2021.
Players to watch: Julia Kraemer, soph. F (27 goals, 9 assists); Leah Proctor, jr. M (6 goals, 12 assists): Rowan Armstrong, soph. F (7 goals, 5 assists); Jo Malcolm, jr. M (9 goals, 6 assists).
Outlook: After just a few years away, Shrine is back in East Lansing to play in its fourth championship game over the last seven seasons. Wins over No. 15 Auburn Hills Oakland Christian and No. 10 Schoolcraft were big along the way, but the best week of the run came when the Knights defeated No. 3 Bath and No. 2 Clarkston Everest Collegiate back-to-back in the Regional. Kraemer earned an all-state honorable mention last season, and senior Caitlin Wetzel is another playmaker in the midfield entering this week with one goal but 18 assists.
PHOTO Harbor Springs' Fran Warren makes a run upfield during her team's Division 4 Regional Final win over Ovid-Elsie. (Photo by Sarah Shepherd.)
MHSA(Q&)A: Soccer Coaches President Zach Jonker
September 21, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Zach Jonker has had his hands – or, perhaps, feet – on just about every facet of soccer in this state over the last 20 years.
He played on a Class B Semifinalist at Petoskey before graduating in 1995, then earned four letters and served as a captain at Hope College. He came back home to teach social studies and became coach of both boys and girls varsities that are regularly among the northern Lower Peninsula's elite, but also are highly-regarded statewide. And this fall, he began the first of a two-year term as president of the Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association.
So he can speak first-hand on the benefits of playing high school soccer in Michigan, which is good news to get out perhaps now more than ever. Michigan high school soccer is facing a predicament unlike any it has tackled before – the creation by U.S. Soccer of its Development Academy, a set of travel teams all over the country that train nearly year-round and are meant to eventually fuel the men's national team. That opportunity has drawn a number of top Michigan players out of high school soccer.
Jonker and his coaching brethren are monitoring that situation closely, while continuing to lead their teams into the second half of this fall boys season. His Northmen are 6-7-1 overall this fall, but have faced three of the top-five ranked teams in Division 1 and another from Division 2.
Despite your location near the tip of the Lower Peninsula, you still manage to schedule strong competition. How do you make it work?
We’re in a really nice spot. Traverse City hosts a tournament during the regular season with Traverse City Central, Traverse City West and Petoskey, and then they invite three schools from downstate that have generally been (Warren) DeLaSalle, Clarkston and Ann Arbor Skyline. The following weekend, we host a similar format with Rochester Hills Stoney Creek and Bloomfield Hills Lahser. We get six really good games at the start of the season with two tournaments. It’s early in the season and teams love coming up, making a weekend out of it, hitting the beach and doing some bonding. And the fields at Traverse City and Petoskey are both beautiful, which helps teams commit, plus the three of us are very competitive.
We’re coming down next weekend to play East Lansing, and we always schedule a couple of those. Last year, Mason came up here. It’s definitely a commitment in terms of travel during the course of the year, but from a Petoskey standpoint, I don’t care about our nonleague record. We’re using those games to get better for our league and better for the (MHSAA) tournament. The only tough thing is putting that in perspective for the kids.
What is something happening in high school soccer that the coaches association is proudest about right now?
We’re always looking at it from the other side, what we want to make better. But one of our main goals as an association is to properly recognize players. And I think the process we have in place for giving all-district, all-regional and all-state recognition and ultimately the selection of the Dream Team, I think that’s a very good model that enables us as an association to truly recognize players who put the work in and had a successful season. We also redesigned our web site this past season, and we’ve done a lot of the all-state process online, which a lot of coaches really liked because it cut down travel time for meetings.
Is anything new on the horizon?
A lot of coaches are really interested in seeing what the long-term impact of the (U.S.) Academy ruling is. Everyone’s initial take is we’re seeing increased parity round the state as the result of 120 kids electing not to play high school soccer this year. Obviously, all of those players are good players playing at a high level, and people are interested in seeing at the end of the season if kids are going to have missed playing in front of their communities, and if kids are going to migrate back to high school soccer. There’s talk of U.S. Soccer adding a U-14 academy. They’re trying to expand.
What has been the reaction so far to the U.S. Academy?
For certain players, the academy makes sense. They’re in a professional training environment 10 months out of the year. But those guys not on the professional track would be equally served by playing high school soccer and playing club like we always have. (U.S. Soccer) is doing a lot of this to benefit the top one percent of players. It’s the main frustration from the coaches.
Everyone kind of understands why U.S. Soccer is headed down that path, and it impacted each (high school) team differently. Some programs lost upwards of 8-10 kids as a result. Some didn’t lose any.
In terms of geographic parity, we’re already seeing that. Two years ago, west side teams won all four championships. Last year, Detroit teams won all four. Now we’re going to see more parity within districts, within conferences. And I think we’ll see scores closer than in the past.
What role should high school soccer play compared to club, the academy, etc.?
I equate it as playing for your national team. When you put your school colors on, go out with your friends that you’ve played with since kindergarten, it’s really special. They can’t even begin to match the rivalries we have with high school soccer, the amount of passion that exists within our game and the number of fans that show up at these games. At an academy game, you might have a handful of parents on the sideline, that’s it, and a few college coaches watching. But you can’t match the high school experience and the passion that exists. Kids are going to miss that, and we’ll get kids back because of that.
Do your players see an MHSAA championship differently because so many elite players aren’t participating in high school?
It doesn’t even register with these guys. The (MHSAA) championships are going to be awarded in November, and for whoever wins this year, it will be just as meaningful for these guys as the guys who won last year.
Does soccer get a bump from U.S. national team success like swimming or gymnastics might during Olympic years?
Any time it’s a World Cup year, men’s or women’s, the players get really excited about the experience. It gets them enthused to get out and train. I don’t think kids watch enough soccer in this country, and that’s one of the big issues we have. Ultimately, what’s holding us back at the national team level is kids are not growing up in a culture of soccer on television like in other countries against which we compete. In a World Cup year, kids get excited, and they watch more soccer, and the play is better on the field.
How much has high school soccer changed since you played?
There are just so many more layers of sophistication, tactically. We had good athletes playing at that point, and we have good athletes playing now. But as a country, we’ve evolved from a coaching standpoint. The kids are getting better technical training at a younger age, and are much better tactically. There are many more teams now emphasizing more possession-based (play). What else has helped the evolution is getting off playing on football fields. During the (19)80s and 90s, a lot of games were played on them, and it made it hard to possess the ball when the turf was chewed up. Soccer-specific fields have helped the game evolve.
What will Michigan high school soccer look like five years from now?
I like the path we’re headed down. The number one thing going forward is seeing what happens with the evolution of the academy program – do kids come back, or does the academy program grow? Regardless, the kids playing high school soccer are going to have a great experience, and there are a lot of really good coaches in high school soccer, a lot of really great referees and administrators. That makes the game special. I see us continuing to have the best going forward.
PHOTO: Petoskey senior Noah Honaker goes high while surrounded by defenders to head a ball during a game this season. (Photo courtesy of Dean Viles.)