GAYLORD ― It’s already been a great 2026 campaign for the Gaylord girls soccer program, finishing the regular season with one of the best records in team history and earning a share of the Big North Conference title for the first time since 2002.
Their postseason journey starts Wednesday, May 27, with a chance to turn a phenomenal season into something truly historic.
Gaylord (14-2-1, 10-1 BNC) is the top seed in the Division 2, District 17 bracket, hoping to become the first team in program history to win a conference and district title in the same season.
The Blue Devils find themselves in a familiar territory, sharing a bracket with three teams they’ve faced throughout the regular season and, as the No. 1 seed, getting to play at home through the finals.
Take a look at a bracket breakdown and prediction for how things will play out:
Division 2, District 17
Semifinals: Marquette vs. Petoskey, 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 26 at Marquette
Gaylord vs, Alpena, 6 p.m., Wednesday, May 27 at Gaylord
Finals: TBD. 1 p.m., top-seed hosts
Breakdown: Gaylord’s district championship drought is much shorter than the 24 years it took to win a share of the BNC, only two years removed from the team’s win over Petoskey in penalty kicks back in 2024.
Still, it’ll take just two wins to become the fourth girls soccer team in GHS history to win a district title and the first to win a conference and district championship in the same season, cementing themselves as one of the best teams in GHS soccer history.
Does that add a bit of pressure? Sure, but GHS is inviting the extra pressure at this point in the season.
“Diamonds are made in pressure situations, and pressure is a privilege,” coach Chris Adams said after his team’s 4-0 victory over Petoskey that clinched the BNC crown.
As the No. 1 seeds and the presumptive favorites, they’ll have to deal with the pressure of taking care of business against teams that, in some cases, have already seen them in multiple matches this season.
Gaylord is 2-0 against Alpena in BNC play and defeated Marquette 4-0 in a tournament at the Superior Dome earlier in the season. Perhaps the biggest threat, Petoskey, also has two losses at the hands of the Blue Devils, most recently falling 4-0 to GHS on May 21.
The Northmen (8-6-1, 7-5 BNC) fared better in the matchup at Gaylord on April 30, a 3-1 loss that felt closer than the score indicated.
Presuming a third Gaylord vs. Petoskey rivalry matchup on Saturday, the Northmen will have to find an answer for GHS’s strikers Ella Cherwinski and Khloe VanOosten if they want a shot at an upset win. Gaylord’s duo has accounted for five of the seven Blue Devil goals scored against PHS this season (VanOosten 3, Cherwinski 2), continuing to find new ways to beat opposing keepers when they get their opportunities.
If GHS can create those opportunities this week, they should have no problem hoisting a second trophy when Saturday’s finals match concludes.
Prediction: Gaylord def. Petoskey in finals, 4-1 final score.
Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gaylord soccer hoping to turn another pressure situation into a title
Reporting by Dylan Jespersen, The Petoskey News-Review / The Petoskey News-Review
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