MONTAGUE — The on-field happenings of the Whitehall vs. Montague game have almost taken a backseat in recent years as the contest has become a celebration of Ava Vanderstelt's life, but Wildcat players credited her example for driving them to a second-half surge and a 6-1 win over Whitehall Wednesday night.
The game annually honors Vanderstelt, who passed away in 2022 and loved soccer, playing with several of the current Viking and Wildcat upperclassmen in youth leagues growing up. She would be a senior this year.
Wednesday's contest began with Ava's mother Bridget Knapp, brother Corbin Vanderstelt and youth coach Brandan Pranger delivering the game ball to officials while the teams wore purple t-shirts with Ava's jersey numbers. That was followed by each team taking a knee on the field in silence, sans a striker (Ava's position), while the first 11 seconds of the game clock were run off without action.
"It's definitely emotional, but it's a good way to bring our whole team together," Montague's Kiley Miller said. "We grew up playing with her since age 10, so remembering her and how important she was to the game of soccer, I think it's really important to keep that alive."
Miller's return added an extra dimension of emotion to the game; she suffered a season-ending knee injury against Ravenna last year and came back for Wednesday's contest.
The two teams battled pretty evenly throughout much of the first half, with Ava Pelton scoring the only first-half goal, but a big momentum boost came Montague's way when keeper Addison Pranger was able to turn back a penalty shot with her team ahead 1-0 in the final minute of the half.
"We talked as coaches at halftime about it really being a 2-0 lead at halftime (instead of 1-0) because of the momentum that we got off of that huge save," Montague coach Chris Aebig said.
It didn't take long for Montague (6-6, 3-2 West Michigan Conference) to capitalize on that momentum. Braylyn Bultema busted loose from the Whitehall defense only a few minutes after halftime and put the ball in the net to make it 2-0, and Pelton struck for three more goals in the following 25 minutes to give her four on the night. One came on a 30-yard long ball shot, and the last of the three was a brilliant off-balance score off an assist by Lilly Rice.
Pelton also capped the scoring when she, after a good hustle play by Whitehall keeper Kaylyn Blaske kept her from putting in yet another goal, was waylaid to the right side of the net but found teammate Allyson Balder with a centering pass for the game's final tally.
Pelton was certainly the scoring star of the game, but Aebig also credited midfielder Abby Dyer with relentless effort.
"I felt like I saw number six all the way across the field front, back, left, right," Aebig said. "She's going to sleep really good tonight, I'm sure, because she was everywhere."
Pranger, whose only goal surrendered came on a second-half penalty shot by Reese Hesse, gave her defensive teammates the credit for pushing aside Whitehall's scoring opportunities.
"Our defense did a really good job today of trying to force their offense out, especially since they have some faster players," Pranger said. "I was really proud of how they played and didn't give up."
Montague has had a tough week, Aebig noted, losing to three consecutive quality foes on the road (Western Michigan Christian, Fruitport and North Muskegon), and players entered the game hoping to show they were better than the 5-6 record on their ledger.
"I think before tonight's game, our goal differential was that we've scored 39 and our opponents have scored 25, and we're still sitting at 5-6," Aebig said. "It just doesn't seem quite right. We're winning big and we're losing small, but they put it together tonight, and I want to carry this momentum into next week, and then the week after that as we roll into our postseason."
Whitehall coach Laicey Chamberlain didn't think the penalty kick save totally deflated the Vikings (2-6-1, 0-4-1 WMC), but with so many emotions already in play due to the Vanderstelt tribute, she did feel like the team's energy level might have been lessened in the second half.
"I think it was a really emotional game," Chamberlain said. "I think they dug in deep for the first half...I don't want to say their emotions got to them, but there were a couple mistakes, and Montague capitalized on (them)."
While Chamberlain is in her first year coaching Whitehall, she was obviously aware of the Vanderstelt tributes already, and said it's a great annual event.
"It's a really special thing that these communities can do," Chamberlain said. "There's something really amazing about being from a small town. This is why people come here. It's because of this sense of family that people have, and it doesn't matter what side of the river you're from. All these girls, they've grown up playing together."
