No sharing for Petoskey girls soccer, outright title wrapped up in finale

PETOSKEY — Typically, a draw is the furtherest thing on anyone’s mind, at least outside of a loss.

But, with the Big North Conference and regular season wrapping up Tuesday at Northmen Stadium, Petoskey could still walk away with exactly what they hoped for with one of those unwanted draws.

And, they did.

Matched up with Traverse City Central in the finale, Petoskey needed a draw or victory to claim an outright BNC title and they ended up having to fight their way to a 0-0 draw to do so.

It brought on about the only celebration you’ll ever hear following a tie, though they certainly weren’t playing it conservative throughout the night.

“I thought it was a great game,” Petoskey coach Zach Jonker said. “We knew it was going to be wide open. They weren’t going to hold anything back because they needed to win.

“I think it was fun for this game to have a little bit of meaning. It was warm, so that’s another good positive to come out of it. I was really impressed with our energy and effort.”

It was the perfect kind of game to lead into district play up next, while ending Petoskey’s regular season in a 12-2-3 record overall and 7-1-3 BNC mark.

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It gave the Northmen a final point standing of 21, with Central (5-2-3) then finishing just behind with 18. TC West (4-0-5), with a game to go vs. Gaylord Thursday, can only finish with as many as 20 points, even with a win.

While neither side had a goal to lean on, there were some big moments during the night, mostly what came on the defensive end and from Sadie Corey in net that Jonker was impressed with.

“They almost caught us a couple times on the counter attack and the backline did a really nice job scrambling and getting organized,” Jonker said. “At the end of the day, they never got behind us. Sadie had to deal with a lot of through balls that she got off the line and collected.

“Their keeper and Sadie are two of the top goalkeepers in the league and a couple times we threatened her, she was up to the task.”

Petoskey’s last title on the girls side of the pitch – outright or share – came back in 2012 during a string of BNC titles when Jonker was just beginning coaching the team.

Now back to celebrating being at the top of the league, it’s clear Jonker is having just as much fun now as he was then, though it’s helped with the group he’s got this season.

“They’re really fun to coach,” he said. “Every one of them has completely embraced their role. Nobody cares who gets the accolades, glory or who scores. They’re just about being with each other and the general vibes are really positive and they’re having fun. It’s a great way to roll into districts.”

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With the league and regular season in the rearview, the focus shifts to a Division 2 district tournament that’ll be a lot of familiar foes on deck.

Petoskey will host the winner of the Alpena and Sault Ste. Marie district opener. A win in that game on Tuesday, May 28 will then put Petoskey in a hosted district championship against either Gaylord or Marquette.

Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey soccer completes outright Big North title vs. TC Central