NORTON SHORES- As the state tournament heats up, the North Muskegon girls soccer team seems laser-focused on repeating last year’s magic, and perhaps winning another Division 4 state title.

On Wednesday night, the path ran through a familiar opponent, West Michigan Conference foe Ravenna.

The Bulldogs wanted revenge for an early season loss to the Norse, but the North Muskegon attack was relentless en route to a 6-0 victory at Western Michigan Christian High School and a berth in Friday’s district championship game.

The Norse were on offense for the vast majority of the first half, putting themselves in position for endless opportunities to score. That eventually paid off when junior Natalie Pannucci found the back of the net with 19:19 remaining in the half.

Fifteen minutes later, the Norse struck again when sophomore Kennedi Koekoek scored, and North Muskegon led 2-0 at halftime.

The attack continued into the second half, when four more Norse players notched goals. Jaley Schultz and Molly Stewart both scored early in the half, while Grace Vander Woude and Emily Judd netted their goals later in the game.

Despite Ravenna goalkeeper Sidney Marsman posting an astonishing 30 saves, the Norse coasted to the win by the same score they beat Ravenna by in the regular season.

“Four goals by defenders, it’s outstanding,” said North Muskegon head coach Caleb Parnin about his team’s offensive performance. “We talk about how we don’t play offense with just our forwards, we play offense with everyone. It just speaks to how we attack.”

North Muskegon will play the winner of Wednesday’s district semifinal matchup between Western Michigan Christian and Muskegon Catholic Central. The Norse hope that game will be another step in their bid to reclaim the state championship.

“It’s exciting, you get those butterflies going,” Parnin said. “You’re writing emails saying, ‘Hey, if we win this is what could happen, we could win, we could lose,’ but it’s an exciting time to be part of the program.”

With hopes as high as North Muskegon’s are, it might be easy for the players to overlook opponents and to think about hoisting another trophy. But the Norse say they are locked in and taking it one game at a time.

“We try our best to take it day-by-day,” Vander Woude said after the game. “We know that each game could be our last, so if we look past opponents we could easily be done and go home.”

“I explained it this way, keep your calendars open,” Coach Parnin said.. “Everything else is about today. We could be playing in mid-June, we could be done Friday. As much as we have confidence, we can’t take anyone lightly.”