Suttons Bay won three of the five games it played and its own tournament, while Glen Lake won all three it played over the past week in girls' varsity soccer action.

SUTTONS BAY'S Brandy Albarado keeps her
eye on the ball. Albarado was named the most
valuable player in Suttons Bay's invitational on
Saturday. The Lakers edged the Ramblers
Friday, 1-0.

The Norse girls began last Wednesday, April 30, with a 2-1 loss at Charlevoix, but rebounded by winning their own invitational tournament Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Elk Rapids and a 1-1 tie with Big Rapids Crossroads Academy. Then, on Monday, the Norsemen destroyed Benzie Central in an 8-1 route.

“I was very happy with the girls’ effort on Saturday,” said Norseman coach Ryan DeFour. “They trained very hard on Thursday and still came out strong in the early game against Elk Rapids. Chelsea Moyer is absolutely inerrant in the back for us and Fran Belanger is playing the smartest, sharpest soccer of her three-year career.”

DeFour said that in the second game, Kali Moyer, Michelle Ness, Alyssa Korson, Emily Stowe and Brandy Albarado did an “amazing” job. Albarado was named most valuable player in the tournament.

During the game at home against Benzie on Monday, DeFour reported that the girls seemed to keep the ball in Benzie’s end of the field for most of the game. Seven different girls scored goals, with junior Emily Seeley scoring two; plus, seven different girls credited with assists.

Glen Lake's Amanda Brown maneuvers
around Boyne City defenders in a driving
rainstorm.

“They all just played really well,” DeFour said.

The most recent games bring the Norseman record to 6-2-2.

Meanwhile, the Lady Lakers played two tough games in less than 24 hours, according to coach Dorne Yeager – and they won both.

“Friday evening they clashed with Boyne City in the rain and came out on top 1-0 on a second half goal by senior Leaha Cary, assisted by sophomore Shelby Ockert with fourteen minutes remaining,” Yeager reported.

Then, Saturday morning, the Lakers traveled to the Keystone fields to take on Traverse City Liberty, winning 3-2.

“The Lakers took the lead on a penalty kick taken by sophomore Cassie Lee midway through the first half,” Yeager said. “Eight minutes later, sophomore defender Paige Stachnik scored on a long bouncing ball that got away from Liberty’s keeper. The Lakers kept the pressure on by scoring nine minutes into the second half on a cross from Cary that was knocked in by senior Syke Hillier.”

The Glen Lake team also prevailed at East Jordan Tuesday night and came away with a 4-0 win. The score was 0-0 at the half. In the second half, Cary scored two goals while Hillier scored one and Stachnik had her first start in goal for the Lakers, earning the shutout.

Now 7-3, the Lakers face Leelanau County rival Suttons Bay at home on Wednesday night, then travel to Kalkaska on Friday when the Norsemen are at Manistee.