PETOSKEY — Annika Gandhi has been on a soccer field most of her life.
But her passion for the sport really took off three years ago when she first put on a Petoskey uniform.
New to Northern Michigan and the program, Gandhi’s love of the game grew out of the friendships she’s cultivated through the sport.
“I’ve always enjoyed soccer, but I really started enjoying it when I moved to Petoskey and playing (PYSA) Breakers,” Gandhi said. “I formed such a great connection with the girls. They’re just so nice and it’s been easy for me to be involved and want to be here with them.”
On Wednesday at Northmen Stadium, the beginning of the end got underway much like it started those three years ago, with a goal by Gandhi and celebration with teammates around her.
The first goal of the 2023 season and first of Gandhi’s PHS career came against Big Rapids in a 2-1 win. On Wednesday, Petoskey met Big Rapids and it was Gandhi, now a senior, starting things off with the season’s first score in a 4-0 win.
To make it even sweeter, it came a day before her birthday, nearly exactly like those three years back.
“It’s good momentum for the season, so I’m excited to see what it’s going to be,” Gandhi added.
If everything goes to plan, the season should be a good one once again for the Northmen, who are coming off a Big North Conference title season with plenty of starters back.
While many downstate programs have already seen the field for multiple games, Wednesday’s was forced through some frigid temperatures just to get things started.
But now underway, Gandhi is excited about the potential of this group, especially up top, where you’ll find her with plenty of other firepower.
“We have a lot of veterans with Haidyn (Wegmann), me, our wingbacks like Dezi (Plichta),” Gandhi said. “We’ve got Brynn (Jonker) and Lily (Premo) coming back and we’re all good veterans that can score. When we get more outdoor practices, we’re going to have a ton more goals.”
It wasn’t hard to find the others after Gandhi’s season opening goal, as Jonker followed to make it 2-0, then Claire O’Donnell scored in the second half and Premo finished things off.
They’re also not hard to find because they’re now numbered in order, with Premo wearing No. 8, Jonker in her usual No. 10 on the edges and Gandhi flipping to No. 9 in the middle.
“I like playing around with the numbers, changing every year,” she said. “This is my favorite number, so I’m glad to finish my senior year off with it.”
For Petoskey coach Zach Jonker, the season opener couldn’t have come with a better result, with his team coming out of an extremely long break between the recent ice storm school closure and spring break prior.
“We’re thrilled to get going after basically having all of last week off,” Jonker said. “It’s been a 17-day layoff and the girls were excited to be back with their friends and playing soccer. That was a really good Big Rapids team and win for us.”
He was also pleased with what he saw out of his defenders and Sadie Corey in net early, up against a Big Rapids team full of athletes that were coming off a great basketball season.
“They put us under some pressure with their athleticism,” he added. “Kudos to our backline in game one, dealing with all the pressure and Sadie stepping up when she needed to deal with crosses.”
Now rolling right along, Petoskey (1-0) will head downstate to meet Grand Ledge and Richland Gull Lake over the weekend.
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gandhi, Petoskey soccer show scoring power in win over Big Rapids
PETOSKEY — Annika Gandhi has been on a soccer field most of her life.
But her passion for the sport really took off three years ago when she first put on a Petoskey uniform.
New to Northern Michigan and the program, Gandhi’s love of the game grew out of the friendships she’s cultivated through the sport.
“I’ve always enjoyed soccer, but I really started enjoying it when I moved to Petoskey and playing (PYSA) Breakers,” Gandhi said. “I formed such a great connection with the girls. They’re just so nice and it’s been easy for me to be involved and want to be here with them.”
On Wednesday at Northmen Stadium, the beginning of the end got underway much like it started those three years ago, with a goal by Gandhi and celebration with teammates around her.
The first goal of the 2023 season and first of Gandhi’s PHS career came against Big Rapids in a 2-1 win. On Wednesday, Petoskey met Big Rapids and it was Gandhi, now a senior, starting things off with the season’s first score in a 4-0 win.
To make it even sweeter, it came a day before her birthday, nearly exactly like those three years back.
“It’s good momentum for the season, so I’m excited to see what it’s going to be,” Gandhi added.
If everything goes to plan, the season should be a good one once again for the Northmen, who are coming off a Big North Conference title season with plenty of starters back.
While many downstate programs have already seen the field for multiple games, Wednesday’s was forced through some frigid temperatures just to get things started.
But now underway, Gandhi is excited about the potential of this group, especially up top, where you’ll find her with plenty of other firepower.
“We have a lot of veterans with Haidyn (Wegmann), me, our wingbacks like Dezi (Plichta),” Gandhi said. “We’ve got Brynn (Jonker) and Lily (Premo) coming back and we’re all good veterans that can score. When we get more outdoor practices, we’re going to have a ton more goals.”
It wasn’t hard to find the others after Gandhi’s season opening goal, as Jonker followed to make it 2-0, then Claire O’Donnell scored in the second half and Premo finished things off.
They’re also not hard to find because they’re now numbered in order, with Premo wearing No. 8, Jonker in her usual No. 10 on the edges and Gandhi flipping to No. 9 in the middle.
“I like playing around with the numbers, changing every year,” she said. “This is my favorite number, so I’m glad to finish my senior year off with it.”
For Petoskey coach Zach Jonker, the season opener couldn’t have come with a better result, with his team coming out of an extremely long break between the recent ice storm school closure and spring break prior.
“We’re thrilled to get going after basically having all of last week off,” Jonker said. “It’s been a 17-day layoff and the girls were excited to be back with their friends and playing soccer. That was a really good Big Rapids team and win for us.”
He was also pleased with what he saw out of his defenders and Sadie Corey in net early, up against a Big Rapids team full of athletes that were coming off a great basketball season.
“They put us under some pressure with their athleticism,” he added. “Kudos to our backline in game one, dealing with all the pressure and Sadie stepping up when she needed to deal with crosses.”
Now rolling right along, Petoskey (1-0) will head downstate to meet Grand Ledge and Richland Gull Lake over the weekend.
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gandhi, Petoskey soccer show scoring power in win over Big Rapids
