KALAMAZOO ― The end result wasn’t what the Lakeview girls soccer team wanted, but making a district final two years in a row tells the Spartans their program is going in the right direction.
Lakeview lost in overtime to Mattawan 3-2 on Saturday, May 31, in its Division 1 district championship game at Loy Norrix High School.
“Always tough to lose in overtime,” Lakeview coach Jason Little said. “But we played our hearts out.
“This is our second year in a row in the district final. We continue to push the program forward. We have a huge group of juniors and sophomores and we are going to go hard at it next year.”
Junior Lilamae Frank put Lakeview on the board first when she found herself in front of the Mattawan defense on a nice push-ahead pass from the midfield. Frank scored unassisted with 22:11 left in the first half.
The game went into intermission knotted at 1-1, and Mattawan scored on its first surge after halftime, as Courtney Cutler scored 27 seconds into the second half for a 2-1 lead.
Junior Shaelah Clark tied the game for Lakeview, on an assist by Frank, at the 26:33 mark of the second half.
Mattawan scored the difference maker with 11 seconds left in the first overtime on a goal by Cassidy Parmelee.
Lakeview ends the season at 13-5-3, which included a regular season 3-1 win over Mattawan.
“This year, we did so much good work together. We were such a great team,” said Lakeview senior Carson Howard. “It sucks that we lost. But, I am so happy I was able to end my high school career with this team.”
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Division 2 at Gull Lake
No. 2-ranked Gull Lake saw its season come to an unexpected end as the Blue Devils lost to No. 15 Otsego, 1-0 on Friday at home. The Blue Devils end the season 12-4-2.
Otsego advances to face No. 5 Stevensville-Lakeshore in the regional semifinals.
Division 2 at Marshall
After getting out of the first round with a 2-0 win over Coldwater, Marshall lost in the district semifinals. Parma Western defeated Marshall 1-0. The Redhawks came into the postseason ranked No. 13 in the state and finish the year at 10-9-3. Parma Western lost to district champ Adrian 5-2 on Friday.
Division 3 at Quincy
Host Quincy edged Olivet 2-1 in their district championship match. Quincy (19-4) will see Grand Rapids Covenant Christian in the regional semifinals. Olivet ends the year at 9-9-1.
Division 4 at Jackson
After winning the program’s first-ever district title a year ago, the Calhoun Christian/St. Philip co-op couldn’t repeat, as Jackson Lumen Christi won 9-1 in the semifinals, then grabbed the district title with a 3-0 victory over Leslie on Friday.
Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Lakeview, Gull Lake fall short in girls soccer district tournament finals
Reporting by Bill Broderick, Battle Creek Enquirer / Battle Creek Enquirer
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