Suttons Bay Goals, Assists Record-Setter U'Ren Savoring Memories from Every Season
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2026
Megan U’Ren knows full well there’s no guarantee the best-played soccer ball for a scoring chance will find the back of the net.
Her perspective comes from being the passer and shooter the past four years for Suttons Bay High School.
“Goals and assists are almost equally as hard because you can set someone up perfectly and then they miss,” U’Ren said. “And then even my scoring chance … if I got set up perfectly … everyone misses.”
Enough perfect-like passes were finished though — to and from U’Ren. She just finished her career as the leading goal scorer in the school’s history as well as with the most assists ever recorded. U’Ren, who plans to attend Michigan State University in the fall, gives the lion’s share of credit to her teammates for the records.
“I wasn't really expecting to break any records,” U’Ren pointed out. “You can't really score without someone assisting you and then to get all these assists, my teammates had to score goals.”
While leading the Norse to a 13-5-1 record this spring, U’Ren toppled the marks of Sydney Deadman for career goals and Lauren Lints for career assists. She had already set the single-season assists school record a few seasons earlier, surpassing Paige Kohler.
U’Ren quite possibly would have walked away with the single-season scoring record this year too, but the Norse saw six regular-season games cancelled due to Northern Michigan’s rather miserable spring weather. She finished her shortened senior season with 17 goals and six assists.
But it’s not necessarily the goals or the assists headlining U’Ren’s legacy.
“I am proud, as a dad and a coach, to see somebody from a young age take something serious, and be willing to put hours and hours of work into it … lifting weights, going to the field on her own shooting balls and stuff,” recalled her coach and father Randy U’Ren. “The girls see it. They see what happens when you put in a lot of work.”
The graduating senior U’Ren has been around Suttons Bay soccer since her dad returned to coaching high school. Under Coach U’Ren, the Norsemen’s boys soccer teams picked up District and Regional titles on a pretty regular basis.
“Megan was a great example of you put in the work, good things are bound to happen,” Randy U’Ren said. “This girl has been working with that level for many years.”
With opponents like Leland, Elk Rapids and Harbor Springs often in the Suttons Bay’s District bracket, the record holder wasn’t able to experience the postseason runs the boys had under coach U’Ren.
Leland also was a thorn to the Norse in the Northwest Conference, winning the title all four of Megan’s playing years.
“Winning Districts was always a goal, but our District has been hard,” admitted U’Ren, an all-conference player again this season. “Every single year we had teams like Harbor Springs in it.”
The Norse fell to Harbor this season in the District Semifinals on the Rams’ home field, 3-0. The Rams went on to advance to the Division 4 Final being played today at Michigan State University.
The Suttons Bay coach pointed out the assists and scoring records are more of a reflection on all the players he’s coached the last four seasons, not just his daughter.
“It’s a testament to the whole program when you have any records that come,” Randy U’Ren said, noting he’s never focused much on individual stats. “It's more like if the team is doing well, the other stuff follows. It's kind of like in business too. If you do the right things in your business, then the money will come.”
Megan U’Ren, who hopes to play college club soccer, looks back at her freshman year as her high school favorite.
“Every year was special,” she said. “But my freshman year was my favorite, getting to play with Dani, my oldest sister.”
And Megan leaves with fond memories of all four years.
“The sophomore year … breaking the assist record, and having Lauren (Lint) — that duo — was special,” she recalled. “Junior year it was seeing that the records were reachable and possible. And then, senior year breaking the records and just graduating with all of my teammates who have played club with me for so many years.”
Winning was a bigger priority than records for both U’Rens.
“I liked doing whatever the team needed and working as hard as I can to help the team succeed,” Megan U’Ren said. “But scoring was really fun, especially in the harder games.”
U’Ren broke Deadman’s record late in this season, scoring two in a win over Kalkaska. The game was stopped as center referee Ed O’Brien delivered game ball to school officials for presentation to U’Ren after the game.
“It was an honor to be asked to remove the ball if she got the record,” O’Brien said, noting he’s never done anything like it in his 25 years of refereeing high school soccer. “Number 10 is such a great player, and she could have scored more. She gave up chances prior, choosing to pass the ball instead.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Suttons Bay’s Megan U’Ren (10) works against a pair of Leland defenders this season. (Middle) Megan U’Ren, right, and her father and coach Randy. (Below) U’Ren creates space during another game this spring. (Top photo courtesy of the Leelanau Enterprise. Family and Glen Lake photo by Trudy Galla Photography.)
Unyielding 'D' Helps Drive Norse Title Hopes
June 5, 2019
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Reyna Johnson and Kendal Hoppa were always forwards growing up playing soccer, scoring goals and enjoying all the high-fives and backslaps that came with it.
So, forgive them if they were slightly offended last year when they were asked to move to defense.
“I’ve played forward my whole career, and then was told I wouldn’t be playing there anymore,” explained Johnson. “You know you’re still a good player, but it was an adjustment, for sure.”
It was also a stroke of genius by 12th-year North Muskegon coach Ryan Berends, who knew Johnson and Hoppa had the perfect combination of tenacity, toughness, experience and maturity to handle the move.
Fast forward to today and the duo of Johnson and Hoppa, along with fellow senior defensive standout Ayla Pitts, form an almost impenetrable “blue wall” for the Norsemen, who are 19-2 and ranked No. 1 in Division 4.
Snipers Sophie Mueller (three goals) and Hope Johnson (two goals), who took those spots in the forward positions, did their thing by pressuring the goal from the outset in a 5-0 victory Tuesday over Grandville Calvin Christian in a Division 4 Regional Semifinal game in Muskegon.
NM next faces Houghton Lake, a 2-1 winner Tuesday over Elk Rapids, in Thursday’s 6 p.m. Regional Final.
“That’s what we asked the girls to do – come out insanely strong the first 10-15 minutes and send a message,” said Berends, who is assisted by Logan Pitts, Jeff Grevel and Kim Gorbach. “We have a lot of speed and a lot of attacking power.”
While longtime rival Muskegon Western Michigan Christian packed in its defense against NM in last week’s District Final, Calvin Christian came out and challenged the Norse from the start.
That strategy gave creative sophomore center midfielder Audrey Wilson and fellow mids Abby Grevel and Sophia Schotts the opportunities to pick their moments and get the ball ahead to attackers Johnson, Mueller and Gwenna Pitts.
North Muskegon peppered standout Calvin Christian senior keeper Alyssa Kiekover with four shots in the game’s opening five minutes, but weren’t able to break through until Johnson got behind the defense and then used her patience and ball-handling ability to get in the right spot and score the game’s first goal at 26:36.
That opened the floodgates somewhat, as Mueller used her blazing speed to score two minutes later, then Johnson added a left-footed goal at the 10:25 mark – proving she is nearly 100 percent after missing much of the regular season with a broken left ankle.
The Norse led 3-0 at halftime and added two more second-half tallies, finishing with a 20-4 edge in shots on goal.
North Muskegon is motivated to take the next step after losing a shootout heartbreaker last year to Kalamazoo Christian in the Division 4 Semifinals. The Norsemen led 1-0 late in that game, before allowing a goal with four minutes remaining as K-Christian forced overtime.
“We are motivated, but we are definitely focused on one game and one goal at a time,” said Hoppa, noting the Norse finished unbeaten in West Michigan Conference play for the fourth-straight year (40-0). “We know we can do it, but we also know that we need to work for it.”
The Norse had a record-setting defensive year last spring, when they won a Regional title for the first time since 2007. NM finished the 2018 regular season with a whopping 136-1 scoring edge over its opponents, including a string of 16 consecutive shutouts, the third-longest such streak in girls soccer state history.
Pitts is the leader of this spring’s defense, which returned Johnson and Hoppa and also features talented freshman Grace Vanderwoude, who replaced departed Emma Berends. The Norse also don’t miss a beat when defensive subs Molly Stewart and Elysia Maurer enter the game.
The final line of defense is imposing 6-foot sophomore keeper Syann Fairfield, a first-year starter whose aggressive style and powerful leg adds another dimension for NM.
“Our team chemistry is really the key to our team,” said Pitts, a captain along with Hoppa. “Everyone knows their role, and everyone is all about team-first. We’ve always been that way.”
Berends believes the experience of making it to the Semifinals last season for the first time in 11 years has paid – and will continue to pay – big dividends for the Norsemen this spring.
“Last year, we had to keep telling ourselves, ‘We can do this. We can do this,’” said Berends, who has a daughter, senior midfielder Grace Berends, on this year’s team. “Because of the run we had last year, it’s a different mindset. This year, it’s ‘We are going to do this.’”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Kendal Hoppa, left, and Reyna Johnson are among defensive standouts for top-ranked North Muskegon. (Middle) Ayla Pitts is another top defender for the Norsemen, and a captain with Hoppa. (Photos by Tami Pitts.)