Lake Michigan adding soccer as conference sportT h e L a k e Michigan Confer­

ence wlfl.be adding soccer to iterepertoire of league-spon- soted sports starting with the 2003*04 season.

-v That in itselfis good n e w s for league coaches in re­gards to the a m o u n t of time spent on the road.

, _ M a n y yearsJerry ago w h e n area Rosevear schools play­ing soccer Riding the Bench were fewerand farther be­tween, the j Northern

Mic higa n Soccer League w a s f o r m e d to give participants

something to shoot for other than just post-season honors.Slowly the n u m b e r of

schools adding boys and girls soccer kept creeping up. This past fall, the boys’ league w as comprised of Charlevoix,East Jordan, Fife Lake Forest Area, Houghton Lake, $urt Lake Northern Michig Christian Academy, M$B ai n Northern Michigan Chris­tian, Leroy Pine Riverfend Roscommon. The girl league this spring is njfcde up of Charlevoix, East Jc Elk Rapids, Harbor Swings, Houghton Lake, R o s c o m m o n and Buttons Bay."The league is so spread out

it was hard to develop rival­ries like w e have in the Lake Michigan," said Harbor

Central's two second half goals beat Northmen, 2-1Classic one-hit w o n d e r Milli

Vinilli’s m a y have been called ‘B l a m e it on the rain.’

While it w a s n ’t raining at all here T h u r s d a y during Petoskey’s Big North Confer­ence girls’ soccer contest against Traverse City Central, the w i n d w a s howling in the Trojans’ favor in the second half, leading to two goals and a 2­1 victory over the Northmen.B l a m e it o n the rain? H o w

about ‘Bla me it on the wind.’“It was another one-goal loss,”

Petoskey coach Scott Batchelor said. “W e scored a goal going with the win d in the first 10 m i n ­utes of the game, but against a team like Central, w e needed to take advantage of the wind and score m o r e goals.”

Petoskey, 8-7-4 overall, 5-4-2 league, took advantage of the w i n d in the first half and scored a goal early as Kayla Frycznski’s 30-yard shot h u m the top of the b o x sailed over the head of the Trojan goalkeeper. F r e s h m a n Katie Johnson recorded the as­sist.

“W e did what w e needed to do at the beginning of the g a m e and that w a s scoring an early goal,” Batchelor said. “W e did s o m e good things in the g a m e and our intensity w a s good through­out.”Central took advantage of the

win d in the second half, scoring the tying goal before taking the lead m i d w a y through. Alex Raphael and Alexi Kelly had the goals for Central, 11-5-2,8-2-1.

“W e di d n ’t ha v e a lot of chances in the second half,” Batchelor said. “But the ones w e got were dangerous.”Batchelorcredited goalkeeper

Kelly Stewart for playing a strong game; while the defen­sive line ofErin Everest, Kendra Spencer, Ashley Bingaman, K a ­rina Fochtman, Courtney Lon- do a n d Karin Upton were also credited for solid play against a very good offensive team.

Petoskey’s midfield w a s led by Casey Wilcox, Stacey LaCross, Liz Keedy and Ellen Beatty.

“T o win these close games w e need the offense to step up and score on our chances a n d the team defense mus t not have any bre akdo wns,” Batchelor said. “W e fell short of our goal losing four close g a m e s to the Traverse City schools a n d w e m u s t out­w o r k t h e m in the off-season to c o m p e t e against t h e m next year.”Petoskey closes out its regular

season 5 p.m. today, Friday, with a Big N o r t h Conference contest against Alp ena at the Click Road Soccer Complex.N O R T H E R N MICHIGANButtons Bay 4, Charievoix 1B U T T O N S B A Y - It’s a co­

championship in the Northern Michigan Soccer League.Danielle P a y n e scored two

goals to lead the Norse, w h o fin-

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Springs athletic director R a n d y Bin gham . “So, n o w w e can h a v e those traditional ri­valries in soccer like w e have in basketball a n d football. Plus, travel time will be cut w a y d o w n . ”So, that mea ns Charlevoix,

Harbor Springs, East Jordan and Elk Rapids are pulling out of the Northern Michigan League and will be joined by Lake Michigan Schools Boyne City and Grayling, both currently playing inde­pendent schedules.Grayling is becoming a full-

fledged m e m b e r of the confer­ence for all sports starting in the fall. Traverse City St. Francis will be in the league for girls’ soccer only, while Kalkaska as yet does not

sanction the sport.First league g a m e s will

c o m e u p in late August or ear­ly September.PARTING SHOTS:— D a v e Niewadomski, a

graduate of Alanson-Little- field Hig h School, has been n a m e d to the All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic C o n ference second tea m in golf. Niewadomski, a junior at Sag­inaw Valley State University, averaged 75 for the season, ty­ing for 11th place overall. Rankings are based o n the 10 best rounds in conference play, including the three league tournament rounds.— T h e recent Michigan

H i g h School Athletic Associa­tion’s annual Officials

Soccerished 11-1 in league matches to share the conference c h a m p i ­onship with H a r b o r Springs, w h i c h also w e n t 1 M in the league.Jai mie Pettis scored in the

first half off a direct kick from Stevie M u r r a y to give Charlevoix a 1-0 lead.It w a s 1-1 at halftime and Sut-

tons B a y went ahead for good in the second half w h e n it convert­ed a c o m e r kick.

“W e played hard, but Buttons Bay w o n the majoirty of the 50­50 balls a n d m a d e the breaks h a p p e n in their favor,” Charlevoix coach Carol M a d i ­son said.Madison said Sarah Cross and

Madison McKenzie played well on defense, while also turning in strong performances w e r e Grace Farrell, midfield; Shayna Drost a n d Pettis, forward; a n d goalie L a u r a Nitchman, w h o m a d e 16 saves.Charlevoix w r a p p e d u p its

regular season with an 8-9-1 overall record, and a 4-7 league mark.

STIVE FOLEY/NEWS-REVIEWPetoskey sop homo re Casey Wilcox (6) works the ball a w a y from Tra­verse City Central goalkeeper Jessica Alspaugh (right) during Thurs­day's Big North Conference contest at the Click Road Soccer C o m ­plex. T h e Trojans defeated the Northmen, 2-1.

JV SOCCERT.C Central 3, Petoskey 0

T h e Petoskey J V soccer team fell to a strong Traverse City Central t e a m Thu rsda y at the Click R o a d Soccer Complex.

“W e only had one sub, but w e played with t h e m until w e got tired,” Petoskey coach Larry Gunderson said.Gun ders on said Jessica Dar-

ga, Kathryn Deery and Shelby Gibbs played well at midfield; while Jill Doctor, Piper Kurtz and Lauren M u r p h y played well defensively.A m a n d a Vigneau and Maris-

sa Bonislawski split the g a m e in goal for the N o r t h m e n , 6-4-2, w h o play host to Alpena today, Friday.F R E S H M A N SOCCER Petoskey 3, T.C Centra 10T h e N o r t h m e n wrapped up a n

unbeaten season as Britta D e n ­nis scored two goals and Krista Fryczynski the other Thursday.Petoskey finished l(H)-2.“T h e girls should be very

proud of their undefeated sea­son,” Petoskey coach Z a c h J on ker said. “O u r attack i m ­proved over the course of the year which allowed us to receive contributions from a n u m b e r of players. This w a s a result of the c o m m i t m e n t the girls m a d e to working hard during our fram­ing sessions.”Fryczynski scored Petoskey’s

first goal off a nice give-and-go with Jean LeBlanc, Jonker said, before Dennis m a d e it 2 0 with a 20-yard blast.

Dennis’ other goal c a m e in the second half on a right-footed vol-

District soccer opens TuesdayHarbor Springs and G a y ­

lord will be host sites for girls’ high school soccer dis­trict tournaments that begin Tuesday, M a y 27, and run through Saturday, M a y 31.M a i n base for the Division

H tournament, which in­volves Petoskey, is Gaylord, but s o m e pre-final g a m e s will be played elsewhere.O n Tuesday, Gaylord will

play host to Sault Ste. Marie, and Cadillac is hopie against M o u n t Pleasant.O n Thursday, M a y 29, in

the semifinals, Petoskey meets the Gaylord-Sault winner, in Gaylord if G a y ­lord wins a n d in Petoskey if Sault wins. G a m e time is 6 p.m. In another semifinal m a t c h Thursday, W e s t B r a n c h O g e m a w Heights will be on the road against the Cadillac-Mount Pleas­

ant winner.T h e district final is 1 p.m.

Saturday at the Gaylord In­termediate School Soccer Field. District win ner a d ­vances to the regional at G r a n d Rapids Forest Hills Northern.H a r b o r Springs will host

the Division IV district with all g a m e s at Black For­est Hall.T h e tournament opens on

T ue sday with Har bor Springs meeting East Jor­dan at 5 p.m. O n W e d n e s ­day, M a y 28, B o y n e City meets Burt L a k e Northern Michigan Christian at 4 p.m., a n d Charlevoix takes o n the H a r b o r Springs-East Jordan w i n n e r a 6 p.m.T h e district title g a m e is 6

p.m. Friday, M a y 30, a n d the win ner advances to the | Elk Rapids regional.

ley off a crossing pass from Tara Foster.Jonker praised the defensive

efforts of Stephanie Zondervan, Laura Berger, Mackenzie Rellinger and Sarah Schuil for allowing just four goals all sea­

son. Trish Lambert! earned her seventh shutout in goal.“M a n y of the girls are very

committed to the g a m e of soccer and will have the opportunity to excel at the varsity level,” Jonker said.

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A w a r d s a n d A l u m n i Banquet honored 289 individuals with 20 or m o r e years of service to the interscholastic sports com muni ty. A r e a officials honored for 30 years were M i k e Burr, East Jordan; a n d H u g h Campbell, Ellsworth; while 20-year pins wen t to D a n Ulrich, Charlevoix, and Joel Donaldson, Petoskey.— T h e M a c o m b C o m m u n i ­

ty College w o m e n ’s softball team wen t 1-2 in the National Junior College Athletic Asso­ciation Division II tourna­m e n t at Fort Dodge, Iowa. Petoskey H i g h School gradu­ate Ellen Foltz w a s a fresh­m a n first b a s e m a n o n the M a ­c o m b team, w h i c h finished 35*2<J. T h e M o n a r c h s opened wjth an 8-0 victory over

Catonsville (Md.), then lost K a n k a k e e (IlL), 5-2, a n d W a l ­lace (Ala.), 8-0.— For the third straight

season, Petoskey has h a d to settle for second place in the Big North Conference softball race. T a k e a w a y the A lp ena factor a n d there w o u l d be three championships for the Nor thme n. Alp ena w e n t 14-0 this season in conference games, running its string of league titles to six years. T h e N o r t h m e n we r e 12-2. In a c o n ­ference season-opening twin- bill, Alpena defeated the N o r t h m e n 6-4 a n d 9-8 in 10 in­nings.Jerry Rosevear can be con­

tacted at 439-9343 or jrose- v e a r@pe toske ynews .com.

Rayders sweep LancersC H A R L E V O I X - Senior

pitcher Kreg W a g e r had a d o m i ­nating performance both at the plate a n d o n the m o u n d as Charlevoix p o w e r e d past Ellsworth in a non-league d o u ­bleheader Thursday, 15-0.T h e Rayders completed the s

wept with a 9- 8 victory.W a g e r tossed a two-hitter and

struck out five in the three-in­ning mercy-rule contest, and he collected three hits and six RBI to lead the Rayders at the plate.

"Kreg is our most complete pitcher this season, ” Charlevoix coach Bryan H a w k i n s said. “H e spots he location well, keeps hit­ters off balance and has a w o r k ethic on the m o u n d that should be the m o d e l for o u r entire staff.”

Also for the Rayders, 9-15, Matt K o c h a n n e y had t w o hits and two RBI, while Jon Reid and Matt Kilkenny each picked u p a hit and an RBI.

Phil Peterson struck out two, walked five a n d allowed nine hits in taking the loss.In the nightcap, s o p h o m o r e

Tyler Bier, a recent call-up from the J V team, picked up his first varsity victory as he struck out two, w a l k e d o n e a n d allowed just three hits over four innings.

Senior Nate Teuscher earned the save as he c a m e in in the top of the sixth inning and induced a game-ending double play to pre­serve the victory.

“T h e second g a m e w a s a slop­p y affair as both t e a m s c o m ­bined for 10 total errors,” H a w k i n s said.For the Rayders, Teuscher

and Kilkenny each singled, dou­bled a n d stole t w o bases; Matt Burtt and Bier each h a d a two- run double; and Jake Burns dou­bled in a run.

“O u r team is s o m e w h a t disap­pointed with h o w w e played in the conference,” said Hawkins, w h o ’s team went 4-8 in the Lake Michigan Conference. “W e ’re n o w focused on tuning u p for the district and being ready to play against Elk Rapids. M y hope is that they’ll bring their best base­ball for the stretch run.”T h e Ray ders play host to

R o s c o m m o n in a non-league doubleheader at 11 a.m., Satur­day, M a y 24.

BaseballSKI VALLEY Pellston 5-6, Beflaire 11-1B E L L A I R E — After strug­

gling on the defensive end in the opener against the Division IV No. 6 ranked Eagles, Pellston put together a defensive g e m in the nightcap to earn a league split

“In the first game, our defense didn’t c o m e ready to play,” Pell­ston coach R a n d y Bricker Jr. said. “W e had eight errors in the first game, but Bella ire had 10 hits so you hav e to give t h e m credit. Y o u just c a n ’t play against a team like that and ex­pect to win with eight errors.”In the nightcap, Pellston did

not c o m m i t a single error a n d used 10 assists in the field to roll past the Eagles.

“O u r defense w a s outstanding in the second g a m e , ” Bricker said. “Plus w e hit the ball well and m a d e them m a k e the plays a n d they didn’t s e e m to m a k e them. The y had three errors.” Cody Leiber allowed just three

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