COOPERSVILLE – While most athletes just hope to not trip over their feet in their first varsity soccer game, Coopersville freshman Brooklyn Michalak had a debut to remember.

The Broncos’ ninth-grader netted a three-goal hat trick, all in the first half, to lead Coopersville to a 6-1 non-conference victory over Whitehall on Wednesday in the season opener for both teams.

“I was nervous,” said Michalak, who added that she never had a hat trick before Wednesday. “But it feels so good to start out strong. Hopefully it keeps going the rest of the season.”

Coopersville Coach Pat Harig was quite proud of his high-scoring newcomer and what she showed in her first night on the varsity field.

“I’m incredibly impressed,” the coach said. “She’s putting herself in the right position and she’s knocking it in when the opportunity presents itself. We’re proud of her for doing that.”

Whitehall’s Charley Klint works to control the ball while under heavy defensive pressure from Coopersville. Photo/Andrew Johnson

Coopersville took the lead in the early minutes of the game and never looked back.

At the 5:55 mark in the first half, sophomore Sydney Greer scored to put the Broncos ahead 1-0.

Following the Greer goal, Michalak put on her show, scoring the next three goals in a time span that covered 12:33.

“lt feels so good,” Michalak said about her outburst, which put Coopersville ahead 4-0 at the 20:48 mark of the first half. “It makes me excited for the rest of the season.”

Freshman Mallory Kelly scored the final Bronco goal of the first half at the 24:03 mark, giving Coopersville a 5-0 advantage.

Coopersville’s Morgan Hepinstall (14) and Whitehall’s Avery Thomas try to reach the ball before it gets to the sideline. Photo/Andrew Johnson

Whitehall senior Maggie Evans found the back of the net at the 31:59 mark to give the Vikings their lone goal of the night and make the score 5-1 at halftime.

In the second half, Kelly scored her second goal of the night for the Broncos before a steady rainfall doused the field and slowed both offenses for the balance of the game.

“We have a pretty young team,” Harig said. “We only have four seniors and a bunch of sophomores, with a few freshmen. It’s a building process and tonight was a heck of a start.

“It feels really good to start strong. It’s a long season and a building process as the season goes on. I didn’t expect us to come out as strong as we did tonight, but we’ll build on it.”

Coopersville will next host Zeeland West on Friday while Whitehall will travel to Fruitport next Tuesday.