District preview: Gaylord soccer hopes to get past familiar foes in MHSAA D2 districts
GAYLORD — No season moves quite as fast as spring in Northern Michigan.
One day, Otsego County teams are celebrating their first practices and games outside. Seemingly the next day, we're already gearing up for graduation, the sports postseason and summer vacation.
District soccer begins on Thursday, May 23, kicking off what will be a long road to East Lansing for teams across Michigan. Gaylord soccer's first district matchup is scheduled for May 29 with a potential district title game on Saturday, June 1.
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Take a look at the district pairings here:
MHSAA Division 2 girls soccer, district 17
Host: Geographic
Pre-district round, Thursday, May 23:
Sault Ste Marie at Alpena
District semifinals:
Winner of Sault/Alpena at Petoskey, Tuesday, May 28\
Marquette at Gaylord, Wednesday, May 29
District finals:
Saturday, June 1 (Host TBD)
The Gaylord girls soccer season has been another up-and-down trek; after going unbeaten for the first three weeks of April, the Blue Devils have been a .500 team since, both in conference and non-conference matchups.
Still, regardless of where they finish, Gaylord will be just two wins away from their first district title in a while once the MHSAA Divison 2 playoffs begin, and they'll have to (likely) go through two familiar opponents to claim that title.
They'll start with a home game against Marquette in the district semifinals, a team the Blue Devils beat 3-0 back on April 8 for its first win of the season. Since then, Marquette has been able to rack up a respectable record (11-4-1) as one of the best teams in the Upper Peninsula, but they have struggled against downstate opponents (3-4-1 against Lower Peninsula teams).
If GHS can get past Marquette for a second time, they'll likely face their rivals from Petoskey for the third time this season after suffering 2-1 and 3-1 losses in the first two matchups. Gaylord had a chance at a 1-0 win in the first matchup between these two teams, but two late goals gave Petoskey a last-second, 2-1 victory.
It's tough to beat a good team three times; Gaylord will hope to prove that right once June begins.
Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: District preview: Gaylord soccer hopes to get past familiar foes in MHSAA D2 districts
