Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark
NORTON SHORES — As temperatures warmed last June, North Muskegon’s girls soccer team finished the season on fire in winning the first state championship in program history.
It was quite the contrast in Thursday night’s 2022 season opener. Sure, the Norse won, but temperatures hovered around the freezing point and Western Michigan Christian’s soccer field resembled a shaken snow globe in the second half.
It was quite the scene: Pure Michigan in March.
In a game that will not soon be forgotten, junior forward Natalie Pannucci broke a scoreless tie with 5:49 remaining and she added an insurance goal moments later in leading North Muskegon to a 2-0 victory over Western Michigan Christian.
Sophomore Katie Kinahan and junior Jaley Schultz assisted on Pannucci’s goals for the Norse, who could not solve standout WMC senior keeper Libby Mast over the game’s first 74 minutes.
North Muskegon outshot WMC by a whopping 44-0 margin and maintained possession for 76 percent of the contest.
Check out the photo gallery at the top of this story as well as the embedded highlights and reaction video.
It was such a rare scene, AccuWeather requested the use of CatchMark SportsNet’s video clips for its syndicated news coverage. You can view by clicking HERE.
