Hannah Thompson’s record-setting season continues emergence of Schoolcraft girls soccer
SCHOOLCRAFT, Mich. (BVM) — Not many people can score 87 goals in one season. In fact, no high school soccer player — boy or girl — had ever done so in the state of Michigan. But this spring, Hannah Thompson rewrote the record book.
A lot led up to a record-breaking season such as this, however. Playing soccer for as long as she can remember, Thompson was immediately drawn to the pitch despite playing multiple other sports during her youth.
“I really liked how active soccer was and that you were always moving,” Thompson said. “I also love that it’s a team game.”
The forward quickly took up strong offensive skills between both passing and scoring. That was thanks in part to her father, who not only helped teach Thompson through her youth, but also got to enjoy her record-breaking season as Schoolcraft’s girls varsity soccer coach this spring.
“My dad has probably always been my biggest supporter,” Thompson said. “He’s been an assistant coach for me a lot in the past. But then this year, he was the head coach for the first time. He’s always been an encouraging coach and always keeps me hyped up and mentally focused.”
Thompson had multiple club soccer stops during her youth career, and currently plays for TKO Premier. Often, she would play up an age level, and even had boys teams ask her to join them. Not only did the experience benefit her soccer career, but it also helped the soccer star realize she was at an elite talent level in the sport.
“I kind of realized that I had a special talent when boys teams would ask me to play with them and I would be able to score on those teams,” Thompson explained. “My experience has been really beneficial because everyone wants to be there and get better. My travel team has had a lot of impact on me.”
Once she began her career at Schoolcraft High School, big things were expected out of the young soccer star. She likely exceeded those expectations with a strong campaign in which Thompson scored 44 goals.
“We had a new coach and probably about eight freshmen,” she said. “It was just so much better than the year before. I was really proud to score that many goals, but honestly, I was just really glad we got soccer going and it was the first time soccer really mattered at Schoolcraft.”
In the season prior, Schoolcraft scored just four goals as an entire team during an 11-game campaign. With girls soccer not instituted at the school until the 2014-15 season, the Eagles failed to have any success until Thompson’s arrival. But after a 4-7 season in 2019, the momentum was rolling.
Before long though, it would be halted. Not only was Thompson’s sophomore season canceled due to COVID-19, but she also tore her meniscus during the travel season that year, leading to a long road to recovery.
“Going into sophomore year, I was super excited,” Thompson noted. “I didn’t know if I would be able to play in the first game that year because I was still recovering, but then I was cleared to play. The first practice was my first time coming back, so I was excited, but we only got four practices in. I had worked so hard to get back from my injury. But it was also a blessing because I think it made my meniscus get stronger and I didn’t have to rush to get back into game shape.”
Thompson found a silver lining in a tough situation, and once she got back on the pitch this spring, nothing was going to stop her.
“I was very motivated,” Thompson added. “Our goal going into the year was to be .500. I didn’t imagine I would score so many goals.”
From game one, Thompson was an absolute force for the Eagles. By the final game of Schoolcraft’s regular season, she became a state-record holder. In mid-May, Thompson tied the MHSAA record for goals in a single season with 66 by netting all seven goals in Schoolcraft’s 7-2 win over Harford.
In the regular-season finale, Thompson had her third eight-goal game of the season, officially breaking the single-season goals-scored record previously held by Mount Clemons’ Kristi Vandeberghe, who set the mark in 2001.
“In the beginning of the season, I was pretty dialed in,” Thompson said. “The moment when I had the 66th goal, my dad took me out because he wanted me to get it in the next game. The next game, I had so many of my friends and family there to watch. The next goal that I scored was probably the ugliest goal that I’ve seen. I was probably more excited when I scored the second goal because it was a little more pretty, but it was still super exciting.”
As Schoolcraft made a run into the postseason, Thompson’s special campaign continued. Before long, she also set the single-season goal record on the boys side.
“I didn’t even know what the boys record was until after I beat the girls record,” Thompson said. “But I thought that’d be cool if I could beat the boys record as well. I think people would just assume the boys record would be higher so I think it’s kind of cool that now the girls record is higher.”
Perhaps an equally impressive feat for the Eagles, however, was that after going 0-13 just three seasons ago, the team won districts and made it all the way to the regional round.
“It really showed how hard we worked the whole season,” Thompson said. “That was kind of cool because it was the first district championship Schoolcraft had ever won for soccer.”
It was a historic season for both the player and the program in 2021. Now, expectations are higher than ever for not only the Eagles but also Thompson as she returns for one last run in her high school career.
“I think it will be a lot for me to break my own record,” Thompson said. “Now that people know I’ve broken it, it means I have to work that much harder. I want to do more team bonding with the team and make it not just about soccer. We did lose seven seniors from this year, but I think we still can do pretty good.”
By next year at this time, Thompson will be looking to begin her college soccer career. With the pandemic’s effect on recruiting, the rising senior remains without any big-time official offers. But after what she did this season, there is no doubt plenty of interest and attention has been turned towards the Schoolcraft star.
“I really want to play college soccer,” Thompson said. “I have had interest but not offers yet because of Covid. I think right now the top school that I want to go to is Eastern Michigan. My goals for college soccer are to have an impact as soon as I come in to whatever school I go to.”
Thompson’s future is undeniably bright, but her top priority remains building up the Schoolcraft girls soccer program. Still labeled as a club team at the school, Thompson and her class have helped bring the Eagles to new heights that no one expected, and they will look to continue doing so in 2022.
“We had to share the boys jerseys freshman year,” Thompson noted. “I think this year had a big impact with how good we did and how far we got. I’m really proud of the team and my 2022 class.”
