Shrine beats Kalamazoo Christian 1-0, wins state title
EAST LANSING » The Royal Oak Shrine Knights captured their second Division 4 state title in their third consecutive trip, defeating the Kalamazoo Christian Comets 1-0 on Friday afternoon.
It’s a rematch of the 2019 championship game, which was also won by Shrine.
“It’s huge. Coming from a small Catholic school, I don’t think we get a ton of recognition. And we’ve been here three years in a row and kind of created a name for ourselves in this community,” senior co-captain Ava Gappy said. “The senior class has been spectacular and great leaders and developed this program into something that is going to carry on through and throughout the years. So I’m really really proud of us.”
After a first half where the Knights were unable to generate a quality shot on goal, they needed just 35 seconds to get on the board after halftime. Shrine took the opening kickoff, went right down the field, and quickly scored off set play from a throw in. Drouillard got onto the throw in and fired a cross from the endline that found Norah Tisko in front, and Tisko buried a header for a 1-0 lead and what would prove to be the game’s only goal.
“That was actually our third one this season,” Drouillard said. “They all thought it was going to go out, and I was just kind of in the right place at the right time. I heard Norah Tisko and just popped it over the goalie, and she headed it in.”
Neither team had scored in the first half, though Kalamazoo Christian had a pair of outstanding chances that they pulled just wide.
In the second half, however, the Knights plugged every last defensive hole and held the Comets to just one routine shot on goal over the final forty minutes. The Comets did get a handful of corner kicks in the second half, but they were unable to generate any scoring chances from those either against an organized Shrine defense anchored by Gappy.
“We’ve had a long season defensively and finding our groove and figuring out how we play together, and this playoff run we’ve really started to click. We picked up pretty early that they liked to play those long balls deep and we just kind of adjusted where we were sitting back and where we were stepping,” Gappy said. “I’m super proud of our whole team, our defense especially, for locking down. Our goalie had a
bunch of really great saves. Our line was super strong, and we really locked down as a team and hunkered down and fought to the end.”
And a combination of
depth, experience and teamwork ensured that the Knights kept their cool, despite the heat, and saw out the win.
“We battled. Sixteen, 17 girls worked hard today, and that’s what we’ve done all season,” head coach Mark Soma said. “You can’t replace experience. It’s a nervous environment,
right? It’s a nervous thing to have to walk into. I told the girls at the beginning to enjoy what we’ve done so far, but once you get on the field it’s just another soccer game.”
The Knights finish the year 16-4-2 and will graduate just six seniors as they attempt to keep things rolling.