Petoskey soccer completes Big North title quest with at least a share

PETOSKEY — It’s not easy to win a Big North Conference championship in any sport.

The last 10 classes that have come through the Petoskey girls’ soccer team can attest to that, even this year’s group of Northmen players on the spring pitch.

But, this year’s group can officially call themselves league champions. Easy or not.

Petoskey made good on one of their biggest season goals Thursday at Northmen Stadium, beating Alpena in a 5-0 final to clinch at least a share of the BNC championship.

It comes as the first league title for the girls’ soccer program since 2012 after years of being so close.

“The last five or six years we’ve been just one or two goals over the course of the season, where if we hadn’t given one up, and we end up finishing second or third,” Petoskey coach Zach Jonker said. “It’s tough to do. I think we might be the first team sport to win a Big North title this year at Petoskey High. It’s tough to go through the Traverse City schools and tough to win a BNC championship, so I’m really happy for them.

“We’ve been in the mix every year. We’re right in those top two or three spots. But this was the year that we – outside of the game at Cadillac – took care of business.”

Petoskey, 12-2-2 overall and 7-1-2 in the league, actually won five straight from 2008 to 2012 and now can add at least the share to the mix. It can become an outright title with a draw or a win over TC Central next Tuesday, May 21, or outright depending on what happens with Traverse City West (3-0-5).

Petoskey wasted no time getting the lead Thursday, with Annika Gandhi notching a score within the game’s opening few minutes for a second game in a row.

“It’s huge, especially in these situations,” Jonker said on the fast start. “(Annika) is having a fantastic year.”

Lily Premo then added a goal, assisted by Gandhi, to make it 2-0 around 10 minutes later and that score stood at the half.

Gandhi and Premo each then added scores in the second half, with Premo bending in a direct kick around an Alpena wall, before Avery Armstrong added the fifth and final score.

Petoskey’s Sadie Corey and Zoe Hardy also each earned the shutout in net, which came as the ninth of the season.

The win also came on senior night for PHS, with Jonker knowing how much the class helped in making the night and title happen.

“It’s a credit to this senior class,” he said. “It was fun on senior night to clinch the Big North title. All six of the girls, in their own unique way, have been fantastic leaders. They’re incredible student athletes. Our team GPA is 3.81 and there’s a ton of 4.0s in that mix. They’re great kids, so I’m really happy for them.”

The matchup against TC Central, originally scheduled for a week ago, will come as the season finale for the Northmen and a great way to enter the postseason if the league can be taken outright. Either way, a playoff-like situation will set PHS up before districts arrive the following week.

“I think the way it has all played out is the perfect tune-up before districts,” Jonker said. “I know they don’t want to share it.”

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