Sailors Find Winning Way in 3rd-Straight Meeting of D3 Finalists
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
November 6, 2021
COMSTOCK PARK – Joel Vande Kopple is not concerned with style points.
“Big Dutch soccer,” as he calls it, suited Grand Rapids South Christian just fine this season.
The Sailors made things happen with their length and athleticism, living off set pieces and capturing an MHSAA Division 3 championship with a 3-1 win over Finals rival Grosse Ile on Saturday at Comstock Park High School.
South Christian seized its first state title in six years and the fourth since 2010, featuring three different coaches among those quartet of championships. It was Vande Kopple’s first season with the Sailors after 15 years with Lansing Christian, which he led to the Division 4 title in 2013. His new team solved Grosse Ile after South Christian’s narrow Finals losses to the Red Devils in 2019 and 2020.
“There was just a focus all year long. It was a resiliency that I hadn’t seen before in a soccer team,” said Vande Kopple, whose Sailors finished unbeaten at 22-0-3. “We’ve been down two goals a couple times and they found ways to win, and it was all about getting back here and giving ourselves (a chance) and we did.
“I thought Grosse Ile was a fantastic team. They played great soccer and they made it an amazing game, but it was just one of those things where I think our seniors who have felt that pain weren’t going to let it happen again.”
Saturday marked the fourth-straight Finals appearance for Grosse Ile (21-2-1), which fell to Hudsonville Unity Christian 3-1 in overtime in 2018 before the Red Devils edged South Christian in 2019 (2-1 in a shootout) and 2020 (1-0).
Grosse Ile was No. 2 in the last Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association Division 3 rankings, while South Christian was No. 5.
“It’s crazy – just to get to the Finals one time, let alone three times and face the same team three times in a row, I don’t think that’s something that anybody would ever expect,” Grosse Ile coach Jon Evans said. “I think it says a lot about both of our programs and our successes that we’ve been able to have.”
South Christian scored first on a penalty kick by 6-foot-3 senior Levi DeRuiter 12 minutes into the game. It stayed 1-0 until early in the second half, when senior Logyn Huttenga scored off a set piece to give the Sailors a two-goal lead with 36:24 left in the contest.
Grosse Ile senior Jon Duke gave his team life on his penalty-kick tally with 17:14 left to pull within 2-1.
But with the Red Devils in desperation mode during the game’s final moments, 6-6 junior Sam Medendorp put it away on a goal with 2:42 left.
South Christian lost its top three goal scorers from last season to graduation, but the Sailors found ways to manufacture offense.
“At the beginning of the year, I didn’t know how we were going to score goals. And then one of the first practices, Levi chucks it in 60 yards and we said, ‘Ah, we can do something with that,’” Vande Kopple said with a laugh.
“We don’t really have natural goal scorers, but we just find ways to get it done.”
Vande Kopple noted how poetic it was that Medendorp notched the goal that put it away for South Christian.
The coach said that the lanky, animated forward is the biggest cheerleader on the team, encouraging teammates to keep their heads up.
Medendorp said the Sailors’ size was a big threat, especially on set pieces and corners.
“It was very different (this season),” Medendorp said. “Our whole coaching staff was (in) their first year here. It was very good to add new ideas and new people into the program. (Vande Kopple) was very personal, which was very important to me and especially the team, and he just pushed all of us harder and better and was very organized in how he coached.”
Shots were even between South Christian and Grosse Ile at nine apiece.
South Christian senior keeper Luke VanTol made five saves, while Grosse Ile junior Hayden Watson turned away three shots.
“You know, we weren’t the better team on the day,” said Evans, who is 136-8-10 in six seasons at the Red Devils helm. “If we play this game 10 times, who knows how the results would turn out, but today wasn’t our day. They took advantage of their set pieces like we assumed they would, and they put the ball in the back of the net."
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Rapids South Christian players celebrate their Division 3 championship Saturday. (Middle) The Sailors’ Alex Leenstra (11) winds up while Grosse Ile’s Jon Duke (4) moves in to defend. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Selvius Saves South Christian Title Effort
November 7, 2015
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
COMSTOCK PARK – Grand Rapids South Christian goalkeeper Carter Selvius clutched the Division 3 championship trophy following the Sailors’ shootout victory against Williamston and happily said that no one would pry the trophy from his hands.
That task, however, may have been much easier to accomplish than trying to get a soccer ball past the senior goalkeeper.
Williamston tried as hard as it could to put a ball in the back of the South Christian net for 100 minutes during Saturday’s MHSAA Division 3 championship match at Comstock Park High School, but was unable to accomplish the goal. The match was eventually settled in a shootout with South Christian outscoring Williamston 5-3 in penalty kicks.
“It’s coming to bed with me tonight,” Selvius said, as he clutched the championship trophy to his chest. “I face these guys every day in practice when we take penalty kicks, and I was confident in their performance. I look at them and try to get their tendencies, but they score on me all the time.”
Williamston, however, was unable to score on Selvius during regulation and overtime. The Hornets totaled 24 shots for the match, with Selvius totaling 14 saves.
“Williamston did everything but put the ball in the back of the net,” said South Christian coach Jason Boersma. “This is just unbelievable. We lost this way two years ago, and it’s a horrible way to lose. Carter just made some monster saves. Williamston controlled the pace of play, to be honest.”
The Hornets outshot South Christian 24-5.
“Anytime you outshoot and out-possess your opponent and lose you are disappointed,” said Williamston coach Brent Sorg. “Their goalkeeper just did a heck of a job. He is very good. He made some tough saves, and that kept them in the game. We had our chances, but we just didn’t put it away.”
Selvius had plenty of help on the defensive end of the field.
“My defense has been great all year,” Selvius said. “They have done a great job of keeping me clean and keeping people off me. (Williamston) had a couple of good opportunities, but I was fortunate to get a hand on the ball.”
Defense has been a strong suit of South Christian all season. The Sailors allowed just 13 goals all season as they compiled a 20-3-3 overall record. During the playoff march, they allowed just one goal in seven tournament wins.
“Our defense has played well in front of Carter all season,” Boersma said. “Guys like Austin Clark and Dylan Huisman and Carter have come up big all year. Williamston had four point-blank balls today. They shanked a couple of them and Carter made big saves on the other two. That is how you win big games. I’m proud of my guys.”
Williamston goalkeeper Ian Petri also came up big when he needed, including a dramatic diving stop of a South Christian shot late in the second overtime period.
The match then went to the dramatic penalty kick shootout.
South Christian scored on all five of its penalty kicks. Austin Clark started the scoring, followed by Oliver Weesner, Ryan Doornbos, Selvius and Zach DeKock who fired home the fifth and game-clinching penalty kick.
Selvius helped his own cause when his penalty kick put the Sailors up 4-2.
“I was not on the penalty kick squad at the start of the season,” Selvius said, “but I just stayed after practice and worked on it. I stayed late and worked hard and got better at it, and I eventually made it on. It’s definitely a competition between you and the other goalkeeper. I made some big saves, and I hit a big shot. It was awesome.”
The feeling was much different for the Sailors than it was two years ago when South Christian fell to Flint Powers Catholic in a shootout in the 2013 Division 3 championship match.
Williamston finished 19-6 and MHSAA runner-up for the third time in four seasons. The Hornets fell to South Christian in overtime in the 2012 Final.
“This was the second time in three years we have been involved in one of these,” Boersma said, “so we are kind of use to it. I didn’t want to watch it. In years past we just to have co-champions. In games like today you could have that because both teams played like champions.”
PHOTOS: (Top) South Christian keeper Carter Selvius secures the ball during Saturday’s Division 3 championship win. (Middle) A Williamston player moves the ball ahead with a pair of Sailors defending.