NORTH MUSKEGON – The downside of winning a state championship is that you’re suddenly on the map, and every opponent gets pumped up to play you.

At North Muskegon, that’s not viewed as a problem. The Norse, who won the Division 4 state title last year by beating Royal Oak Shrine Catholic 5-0 in the championship game, want opponents to come at them hard, because they know the challenge will make them better.

The Norse have even gone out of their way to put difficult non-conference opponents on their schedule this season, like Western Michigan Christian, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, Spring Lake and Royal Oak Shine Catholic, for a rematch of last year’s big game.

They got off to a great start on Thursday night, defeating Western Michigan Christian 2-0 on the road in their season opener.

“I know we’re never going to get someone’s half effort,” said North Muskegon head coach Caleb Parnin, whose team finished 20-1-1 last season. “Who wouldn’t give their best effort in these games? We fully anticipate everyone’s best this year. It will make us stronger, which is special.

“I know we’ve certainly tried to make sure that we play some teams we may see in districts and regionals. We’ll have a really tough schedule.”

While some state champions may go into the following season with the mindset of trying to repeat, North Muskegon’s goal is to take it all day-by-day and game-by-game.

“We continue to remind the girls that it’s about growth,” Parnin said. “When it’s gets to playoff time, it will be about winning. We’re trying to get better and better every day. Our goal is to do that, and if we do that, I think we’ll be a dangerous team.”

The Norse will have to move on without last year’s leading scorer, All-Stater Hope Johnson, but six starters return this spring to provide a strong foundation to build on.

One returning starter who’s back at full strength is senior center back Grace Vander Woude.

“We’re really excited to see what she can bring,” said Parnin about Vander Woude, who played with a torn labrum last year. “She played through the injury last year and really wasn’t able to get any treatment to help. She had to get surgery right after we won.”

Vander Woude admits that it’s easy to reminisce about the excitement of winning the state title last year. That’s understandable, because the Norse put on an amazing performance, outscoring six opponents in the state tournament by a combined score of 36-1.

But Vander Woude said she’s trying to use that as motivation to be even better this season.

“It’s important to go day-by-day and game-by-game,” she said. “We just want to continue to grow our culture. We’re really big on that. We want to unify everyone together and make sure we do that. That way we’ll have a chance to start by winning conference and districts and not worry about end results.

“But I worked super hard and lifted in the offseason with the hope of getting back to where we were.”

Another returner who will help the Norse a lot this season is junior forward Natalie Pannucci, who totaled 18 goals and 10 assists last year. She got off to a great start on Thursday night, scoring both of North Muskegon’s goals in the season-opening victory.

“She’s a three-sport athlete and an All-State volleyball player,” Parnin said about Pannucci. “She scored a lot of goals last year and gives us a lot of ability up top.”

Joining Parnin at another forward position will be junior Sam Johnson, who transferred in from Muskegon Catholic Central.

Also returning for the Norse is sophomore goalkeeper Emma Lamiman, who saw a lot of action and gained valuable experience last season when senior goalie Syann Fairfield was injured.

“I think she appreciated how we worked her in,” said Parnin, who noted that Lamiman was still rotated into games, even after Fairfield returned. “I hadn’t really saw a team do that until West Ottawa last year. I thought it was interesting and we tried it. It kind of helped us utilize our players and help bring them along.”

The Norse know they are facing high expectations this season, but Vander Woude said the key is to ignore all the hype and focus on internal improvements.

“I’m just hoping that myself and the other seniors can leave the program better than we found it,” she said. “We want to help grow the culture and the program in a positive way. I love winning, but we want to just become a better team and grow in that aspect.”