Charyl Stockwell's record-shattering soccer player is even better at hockey

GENOA TOWNSHIP — Cassie Hall’s earliest experience in skates involved a pair that were nowhere near her size.

“Ever since I was little, even walk, I would put on my mom’s roller blades and skate around the driveway with my brother and sister,” Hall said.

“They were very big. I don’t really remember, but I imagine my ankles were really snapping in half.”

Once she grew a little bit and was fitted with the appropriate footwear, Hall has been breaking opponents’ ankles (figuratively, of course), on the ice and on the soccer field.

The junior at Charyl Stockwell Preparatory Academy will play for the U.S. under-18 women’s national hockey team in the World Championships June 6-13 in her future college town, Madison, Wisconsin.

In the meantime, she’s shattering records on the soccer field, leading Charyl Stockwell to the best season in the brief history of the program.

With five goals and one assist in a 7-1 victory over Southfield Christian Tuesday at Genoa Township Park, Hall boosted her season totals to 53 goals and six assists in 17 games. It was the fifth time she scored at least five goals, her high being two six-goal performances.

According to records submitted to the MHSAA, only 16 players in Michigan history — none from Livingston County schools — have scored more goals.

“I couldn’t do it without my teammates,” Hall said. “They have the trust in me. They get me the ball. They’re able to kick it up the field and I’m able to run up to it.”

She’s had a hand in 59 of the Sentinels’ 66 goals this season. Stockwell is 9-9, winning more games this spring than it did in the program’s first four seasons combined.

“It’s soccer,” Stockwell coach Doug Brown said. “It’s an 11-v-11 sport. You can have the greatest player on Earth; if you don’t have the rest of the team around them, you’re not going to get anywhere.

“The thing we have to take home as a team is every single goal she has, someone has assisted on somewhere. Having someone we can go to time and time again is outstanding, but really it’s been a team effort top to bottom. This is by far our soccer team’s best season.”

Hall gave a glimpse of what was to come in her first season of high school soccer last year, scoring 10 goals and adding three assists in a 12-game season. She had a year off from soccer, not getting the opportunity to play as a freshman when COVID restrictions wiped out 2020 spring sports.

“I started at a young age,” she said. “I was playing travel up until high school. Hockey was getting in the way, so I had to quit, but then I started playing high school.

“Hockey is more like my thing, but soccer is fun. It’s something I do to keep me going and having fun.”

As great as Hall has been in soccer, she plays at an even higher level on the ice.

Hall, a 16-year-old forward who lives in South Lyon, was invited to the U18 Select Camp and the USA Hockey Women’s National Festival in Minnesota last summer.

Based on her performances, she was named to the under-18 women’s national team in October. The world championships were scheduled for Jan. 8-15 in Sweden, but the event was canceled about a week out because of renewed COVID fears.

At the time, Hall thought it was a lost opportunity.

“It was very disappointing,” she said. “They told us they didn’t have a reschedule date, nothing. Everyone thought it was over.”

But later in the winter, not only was the tournament revived, but it was moved to the Madison. Hall committed to the University of Wisconsin while in eighth grade.

“There’s going to be a lot of good talent there,” said Hall, who won national championships with Little Caesars the past two years. “It’s an honor to be able to represent my country.”

Having an athlete the caliber of Hall is a boon for a Stockwell program that is still in the building stages.

“It’s fantastic to watch her play, it really is,” Brown said. It’s awesome to see how the rest of the team takes pride in what she’s able to do. They cheer her on every single time. It’s really awesome to see how she can do it. For Pete’s sake, she’s got skills you don’t see that often.”

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com.  Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Cassie Hall, a record-setting soccer player, is even better at hockey