He's Got the Goal-den Touch
September 28, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Their games were fueled by typical sibling rivalry. To Lee Chatfield, the endings were humorous. To his two little brothers, more like cruel.
Sixth-grader Paul and fifth-grader Aaron regularly would take on their senior brother on a makeshift soccer field in the family’s back yard. They’d play games to 10, the two youngest brothers against a standout on the Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian varsity.
Lee would let them score nine goals before dribbling circles around his siblings. Paul and Aaron would yell at each other to somehow block Lee’s path, but to no avail. Inevitably tears would fall.
“Maybe I was being a baby,” Aaron said. “He would let us get up and then come back and beat us, and he’s laughing while we would just cry.”
But on that backyard soccer field, Aaron Chatfield also learned how to compete. And there’s no question it paid off during one of the most accomplished careers in MHSAA soccer history.
Chatfield scored his 173rd career goal on Sept. 21 against Elk Rapids. He’s pushed that total to 178 heading into this weekend’s games against Fife Lake Forest Area and North Muskegon. A Second Half High 5 recipient this week, Chatfield has 45 goals this season after scoring a career-high 56 in 2011.
“Up until seventh grade, he couldn’t lose a game and not cry,” said Lee, also Northern Michigan Christian’s coach the last three seasons. “It built a little chip on his shoulder.
“But it’s always been God-given (talent). And Aaron has worked tremendously hard to hone the gifts God has given him.”
All in the family
To set the record, Chatfield passed 2009 Dearborn graduate Soony Saad, who went on to lead the NCAA with 19 goals as a freshman at the University of Michigan in 2010 and now plays for Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer.
Chatfield learned about Saad as he was pursuing the record, but admitted he isn’t familiar with most of the others on the MHSAA all-time goals list.
However, there are a few he knows better than anyone – there are five Chatfield brothers total, and three more also are among the most prolific scorers in MHSAA history.
Entering this season, Nathan Chatfield was second on the career goals list with 170, scored from 2001-04. Spencer was tied for 12th with 121 goals from 1998-01. Paul is tied for 19th with 109 goals during a career that ended last fall. Lee was a sweeper, so his game was stopping goals instead of scoring them – but he did a fine job at that as well.
Aaron, being the youngest, tried to pick up certain qualities from each. Nathan, the second-oldest, was “a natural goal-scorer, probably the fastest. He would just outrun people,” and holds the MHSAA record with 272 career points, although Aaron needs only five more to match him.
Oldest brother Spencer “could dribble like no other.” Paul was “built differently than all of us … but he could double scissor you up. He’s very physical.” Lee was “more like me; he was the best defender,” and Aaron played in the back from third through eighth grades.
“I would like to think I’m more of a mix of everybody,” Aaron concluded.
“Almost everything I do, I’ve learned from them. The way that they play, people say all the time that I remind them of my brothers.”
He can play with anyone
The best compliment – and a strong representation of how Chatfield matches up statewide – comes from Petoskey coach Zach Jonker.
The Northmen have made two recent trips to the MHSAA Finals and regularly load up their schedule with top-ranked teams from Divisions 1 and 2 including East Kentwood, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, Warren DeLaSalle and Bloomfield Hills Lahser. Petoskey also regularly scrimmages Northern Michigan Christian.
“He’s the most dangerous individual we’ve faced all season. When he received the ball against us, we kinda held our breaths,” said Jonker, who also knows the Chatfields well through the club program. “He has a great combination of speed with the ball and power. He has great balance and he’s tough to knock off the ball. And he’s got another gear; he can explode by (defenders).
“We double teamed the guy, and we haven’t had to give any individual we’ve played all season that kind of attention.”
Chatfield joined an Eagles varsity in 2009 that had only three seniors. Not only did he start immediately, but he also was named a co-captain.
Last season’s team became an incredible story, advancing to the Regional Final on a 24-game winning streak before losing for the first and only time of the fall, 2-0 to eventual MHSAA runner-up Muskegon Western Michigan Christian. Chatfield scored in every game but that last one.
He also has cut his teeth playing for his club team, the Petoskey Lakers, and his teams are a combined 24-2-2 during their last three seasons playing in the Michigan State Premier Soccer Program. Chatfield scored 1.9 goals per game last club season, down from 2.5 the season before. There is interest from a number of colleges, and he is looking at options of all sizes, from Division I to NAIA.
Chatfield has logged plenty of miles to see strong competition, and one game as a sixth grader left Lee with the impression that big things were on the way.
“There was one moment when I was standing on the sideline, and he did a spin move and split two defenders with a scissor. At that moment, I thought this kid has got it,” Lee said.
“He’s always been tenacious. He’s a natural-born competitor. He’s anything but a prima donna. He just wants to win.”
PHOTO: Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian's Aaron Chatfield dribbles through defenders during a game earlier this season (Photo courtesy of the Petoskey High School soccer program.)
Western Michigan Christian Completes 3-Peat on Freshman's Final-Minute Score
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 2, 2024
GRAND LEDGE – Cole DeJonge knew it would happen eventually – he and his Muskegon Western Michigan Christian teammates had created too many chances Saturday against Plymouth Christian Academy in the Division 4 Final for it not to happen.
But the senior midfielder couldn’t have predicted just how he’d feel when it did.
Freshman Mason Bonnema scored the game-winning goal with 1 minute, 4 seconds to play, finishing off a beautiful through ball from DeJonge and giving WMC a 1-0 victory and its third-straight Finals title.
“It was pure relief,” DeJonge said. “I’ve never felt so much joy in my life for a goal to go in than that one. We’ve already won two state championships, but nothing was like this one.”
The Warriors have now won 10 Finals titles after reaching their record-tying 17th title game. They are just the third boys soccer program to win three straight Finals titles, and first since Detroit Country Day won eight in a row from 1987-94.
“There is a lot of history, and it’s fantastic history – it’s a school with a legacy of winning state championships,” WMC coach Ben Buursma said. “Our focus every year is to get back to the title game, and we believe we can do it every year. We play a tough schedule, and that helps prepare us. These kids, the growth they showed this year, it was pretty incredible.”
WMC (15-7-3) controlled much of the game, finishing with a 19-7 shot edge (10-3 on frame). But Plymouth Christian’s defense stayed strong under pressure, and when it did leak, senior keeper Jonah Noel came up big.
But that one final chance was too much, as DeJonge played a ball forward to Bonnema who broke free on the right side of the goal and slotted one beyond Noel.
“The game was crazy; it was kind of just back and forth with us possessing and them kicking it out from the back,” Bonnema said. “We just found a breakthrough in the last two minutes. It’s crazy. It’s a great feeling.”
Noel was called into action right before kickoff, as regular starter Nik Vergel suffered an injury during pregame warmups.
He made nine saves, including stifling multiple breakaways to keep his team in the game.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Plymouth Christian coach Ryan Thomason said. “He literally found out in the tunnel that he was starting before we walked onto the field. He hasn’t played goalie in a month and a half. To play the way he did – no nerves, he was out there dribbling the ball like it was basketball season. Couldn’t be prouder of Jonah, ice in his veins. But that’s how all the seniors were on this team. They built a legacy for this program – two Final Fours in four years. I just couldn’t be prouder of them.”
After giving up the go-ahead score, Thomason’s team nearly tied the game on a free kick from senior midfielder Caedmon Whipple.
The captain had a free kick from just outside the left corner of the 18-yard box, and his attempt cleared the wall and started dipping. But WMC keeper Dan Minasian punched it over the bar. The resulting corner didn’t create another chance, and the clock ran out on the Eagles (15-6-3).
Minasian’s save not only preserved a clean sheet and a Finals title, but a perfect postseason, as he and the Warriors did not allow a goal through six playoff games. A year ago, he allowed just one on the way to their title.
“Dan’s been as solid a backstop as you can have in high school soccer,” Buursma said. “He’s been phenomenal over the course of two-plus years, and the defense was incredibly strong in front of him. It’s nice when you have a defense that doesn’t give up many shots, but to have a keeper like Dan back there, we have no worries.”
While there were certainly nerves, that did help calm them as WMC chances went begging on the other end.
Plymouth Christian’s defense did all it could to not give WMC star striker Tekalegn Vlasma any space, but his off-ball movement and DeJonge’s passing created a handful of chances anyway. Noel was able to keep Vlasma off the scoresheet, however, despite his four shots on goal.
“We instituted a system, and the guys worked it to exhaustion,” Thomason said. “We fought really, really hard and they got us in the 79th minute. They’re a great team, and we battled them. We thought if we could get them to overtime, that was kind of the goal. They were just a heck of a team. All credit to them. But we battled, and I’m so proud of us.”
PHOTOS (Top) Mason Bonnema (22) puts a foot into the winning shot for Western Michigan Christian on Saturday at Grand Ledge. (Middle) PCA’s Juan Chacon-Beltran steps into a kick. (Below) Plymouth Christian’s Grant Ramseyer (23) and WMC’s Juan DeJonge battle for possession. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)