OTSEGO — It is a famous saying, mostly because it’s true. The best offense is a good defense.
That was the scouting report for Gull Lake as it entered the next round of the soccer postseason.
A defensive-minded Gull Lake squad defeated No. 14 Grand Rapids Christian 1-0 in this Division 2 regional semifinal in girls soccer action at Otsego High School on Tuesday, June 2. No. 2-ranked Gull Lake advances to face the winner of No.1 Hudsonville Unity Christian vs. Vicksburg in a regional final at 6 p.m. Friday at Otsego.
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“We knew we had to come up big defensively tonight,” Gull Lake coach Jeff Corstange said. “We knew we had to be patient and tonight we showed 80 minutes of patient soccer.”
The strategy was based on stopping one of the top players in the state in Charley Hassenrik of Grand Rapids Christian, a junior who is already committed to play at Michigan State University.
“We had to focus on one person, we knew we had to man-mark her,” Corstange said. “We put our fastest, best player and stuck her on Charley all game. Tessa (Cothron) deserves an award for the job she did on her all night.”
With that kind of defense, it wasn’t going to take a lot of offense to win. Gull Lake came up with the goal it needed to play that strategy when the Blue Devils’ Ali Bates scored on an assist by Makayla Burkhardt with 26:00 left in the first half.
“From there, we didn’t want to quit playing. But we did want to protect the lead,” Bates said. “We put a game plan together, It was about sticking to the plan, staying composed and moving on.”
Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Did No. 2-ranked Gull Lake keep its season alive in girls soccer regional?
Reporting by Bill Broderick, Battle Creek Enquirer / Battle Creek Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
