WHITEHALL — Even a thrilling battle like the one Montague eked out over Whitehall Monday night, 5-4, takes a backseat sometimes. When the battle was over and Montague and Whitehall players embraced one another, it took on greater meaning.
The two teams already were gathering as they traditionally do postgame to remember Ava Vanderstelt, a former Whitehall player who passed away in 2022. Monday saw the teams lifting up one of their own again - Montague sophomore Elle Moran. Moran’s father, Troy, a Whitehall alum and former Montague principal, tragically passed away over the weekend after suffering a heart attack while on a run.
Elle still played and gave her all in the game, which had teammate Addison Pranger, who scored two goals in the win, “in absolute awe.”
“She is the most remarkable person,” Pranger said with a smile. “To be able to come out here and give us her all like she always does and still have a smile on her face meant the world to us.”
The two teams share a close relationship, of course, bound not just by White Lake but by, in some cases, years spent together on the field. A handful of players on each side have played together on the White Lake Breakers youth team for several years, and current Viking Kendall Osborne was a classmate with several of the Wildcats before transferring across the river this year.
“We’re just feeling the support from our community, our fans, our teammates, Bridget (Knapp, Ava’s mom), just everybody coming together,” said Lilly Rice, who also had two goals for Montague. “We thank the Whitehall soccer team for always being good sports to us. We just felt super loved, and I think that helped.”
Rice’s second goal was the game-winner, as she was able to come up with the ball with 6:50 to play after Whitehall keeper Clare Westerlund’s attempt to hang on to it couldn’t stand up to pressure. Whitehall coach Adam Prince noted Westerlund was only in her second half ever of varsity goalkeeping; the Vikings have been rotating keepers in search of a long-term answer at the position.
“The ball has to go through 10 people before it gets to the goalie,” Prince said. “We’re all going to do this as a team, otherwise we’re not going to do it at all.”
The first half of Monday’s game showed no signs of the emotional battle it would become; Montague controlled the flow of play and poured in three goals late in the half to take a 3-0 lead. Pranger had the first two in a 38-second span, twice fighting through traffic to score. Rice got loose for a breakaway with 1:35 to play in the half to add to the lead.
Until very recently, Pranger had been the Wildcats’ own long-term answer in goal. However, Montague coach Kara Raeth, taking the long view of the season, recently approached Pranger about moving to a center forward position, believing her offensive skill set can raise the team’s ceiling.
“We definitely wanted to focus on our offensive attack more,” Pranger said, adding she was originally surprised when Raeth suggested the move to her. “Last year, we didn’t have the opportunity to have the backup goalie that we do. Now that we do have that player, (Coach) wants to hopefully put me up top to help boost that offensive threat so that we can get some goals in the back of the net and try to go far this season.”
That backup-turned-starting goalie, Claire Aebig, hasn’t yet hit Pranger’s heights in the net - nor was she expected to, given Pranger’s depth of experience at the position. However, both coach and predecessor believe she can be a strong keeper.
“Claire is brand new in the goal, so we want to get her as much experience there as possible before districts,” Raeth said.
The ‘Cats added a fourth goal early in the second half when Ella King snuck a shot into the top corner of the net, but Whitehall suddenly stormed back, fueled by Osborne’s impressive shot a minute later from just outside the goalie box.
“They came out in the second half and they got the first one, and it was like a light switch went on,” Prince said. “That’s what I’ve been waiting for all season, is to see everybody in the midfield play together and then just be able to start to push the ball through. Once they got the second one, then we thought we had a chance to win it.”
That second one came when Kate Beda was credited with a goal after a Whitehall free kick deflected off a Wildcat and found its way to the net. Aaliyah Jamison delivered the Vikings’ next two goals to dramatically tie the game, getting loose for a breakaway for the second one with 11:26 to play.
Raeth said Whitehall moved some players around in the second half and did a better job filling the middle, which led to their success.
“Whitehall has great athletes,” Raeth said. “There’s no reason why they can’t turn a game around. We just have to be ready for that.”
All involved took a lot away from the display of unity between the teams after the game and the support from the fans who were part of it.
“It only shows how close both these communities are,” Prince said.
