Unity Strikes Again in Division 2 Final
November 3, 2012
By Dean Holzwarth
Special to Second Half
KENTWOOD – Less than two minutes into the second half of Saturday's MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship game, Unity Christian senior goalkeeper Nick Woldyk saw Petoskey's Adam Bayer racing toward him on a breakaway.
Woldyk didn't flinch at the challenge, as he rushed out of the box and slapped away the attempt to preserve Unity's one-goal lead at the time.
The pivotal stop proved big for the third-ranked Crusaders, who went on to beat the Northmen 3-0 and win the title at Pat Patterson Athletic Field.
“I saw him coming at me, and pretty much what you have to do is come out and make the goal smaller and make your body big,” Woldyk said. “You hope to get a piece of it, and I did. It was pretty big because they were getting the momentum there.”
Unity led 1-0 when Woldyk came up big, and Petoskey coach Zach Jonker pointed to the play as a turning point.
“That save their keeper made two minutes into the second half was probably the play of the game,” Jonker said.
Junior forward Joe Honderd, who tallied Unity's second goal of the game, said Woldyk's effort was key.
“Nick came out and made a great save that had to be made,” he said. “That really helped us out, and if they would've scored, I think it could've been a different outcome.”
The victory capped off another remarkable season for the state's perennial powerhouse, which finished 25-2.
It wrapped up the Crusaders' third MHSAA crown in the last six years after they also won in 2007 and 2009.
It was their fifth Finals appearance in the past eight years. They finished runner-up in 2005 and 2011 (Division 3).
“As a coach, you want to be peaking come tournament time, and that's exactly what this team did,” Unity coach Randy Heethuis said. “We were playing our best soccer as a team, and we defended very well. We really came along defensively and played a lot better together.”
Unity got on a roll after losing 3-1 to Holland last month.
It ripped off 10 straight wins, including upsets of No. 1 Spring Lake and No. 2 Ada Forest Hills Eastern in Regional play, and outscored opponents 37-5.
“I think that was the toughest region in the state for Division 2, and that was huge,” Heethuis said. “The entire tournament, we gave up one goal over the run of play, and we really came along and played a lot better together defensively.
“It took a lot of work to get through that region, and I'm happy to finish it off with the exclamation point today.”
Petoskey (17-9-2), which lost to Unity in the 2009 Final, 3-0, played well after allowing an early goal in the first half.
The second half was much different, however, as Unity used its size and speed to pepper the goal.
The Crusaders had eight shots on goal in the second half, compared to only two during the first 20 minutes.
“I thought once we absorbed the pressure, we settled in and looked OK,” Jonker said. “We knew (we) could not possess the ball, and maybe we should've played more direct, but it is the most imposing team we've played all season. We had a couple of breakdowns, and they converted.”
Unity senior Jake Love put the final touches on Unity's championship run with a beautiful goal in the right corner from 20 yards out.
“We really stepped it up in the tournament, and I'm proud of my boys,” Love said. “We had much more intensity than during the (regular) season, and going out like this my senior year is wonderful. I wouldn't want to leave any other way than winning a state championship. It's great.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Hudsonville Unity Christian players huddle around their newly-won Division 2 championship trophy. (Middle) Unity Christian's Jake Love (left) works the ball past Petoskey's Eric Hoffman (blue 7).
GR Catholic Central Clinches 1st Title
November 5, 2016
By Dan Stickradt
Special for Second Half
ROCHESTER HILLS — There’s a ton of pressure being ranked No. 1 in the state, a target for every opponent to try to knock off the perch.
There’s ample pressure just being ranked in the top 20 in one of the state’s four divisions.
Top-ranked Grand Rapids Catholic Central understood that fact entering the Division 3 postseason.
In a tournament where upsets were the norm, the Cougars kept their composure and made a run to the school’s first boys soccer MHSAA championship with a 1-0 victory Saturday over fourth-ranked Flint Powers Catholic in the Division 3 Final at Rochester Stoney Creek High School.
Catholic Central (19-1-4) defeated four ranked teams in its final four games of the postseason and outscored its six postseason opponents by a 21-4 margin.
“It was a challenge with so many good teams out there. But there were some life lessons about being No. 1 and playing like it. A lot of life lessons just about getting here,” smiled Catholic Central coach Brian Hughes. “I told them before the game that I didn’t really care if we won today or lost. They already won based on the (journey) to get here and the fact that we had to beat some really good teams to play in the state finals. They did it together. No one individual accomplished this.”
It marked the first-ever Finals appearance for Catholic Central, which took over the top spot in the Oct. 9 coaches association rankings and firmly held its position. The Cougars, who had never won a Regional before this season, solidified their lofty ranking on the season’s final day.
On the counterattack, Catholic Central broke the stalemate with 25:29 in the first half with its first shot attempt of the contest.
Junior forward Langston Cooper broke free down the right side before slipping a cross into the penalty box. Sophomore forward Jim O’Neal was in open space to one-time a shot from six yards out past Powers goalkeeper Brendan Tilden.
“I was in the right position. But to be honest it was all Langston. He did all the work down the side to get the cross over to the middle,” said O’Neal, who recorded just his sixth goal of the season. “It was unusual to score on our first shot, but we’ll take it any way we can get it.”
Defensively, Catholic Central stifled several of Powers Catholic’s attempts. Anchored by senior center back Josh Steffes, a Division I college prospect, and junior goalkeeper Noah Hughes, GRCC left the Chargers (17-4-3) completely frustrated and unsatisfied.
“We’ve had some good talent in the past — all the talent in the world. We just could never get it done before,” said Steffes. “We knew since the beginning of the season that this was possible.”
Catholic Central shut down the Powers Catholic foursome of Chase Knoblock, Bryan Lendzion, Steven Tuttle and Mason Smith, who came in with a combined 52 goals on the season. Powers had outscored its six previous postseason opponents by a commanding 27-2 margin with four shutouts in the playoffs and 11 total clean sheets on the season.
“We had a great run, but to be honest I don’t care if we were ranked fourth or 104th. I don’t think the guys are satisfied for just being here,” said Powers Catholic coach Tony Rowe. “We have a ton of juniors coming back, and I know they’ll remember what it feels like to lose this game.”
Powers Catholic came out and controlled play for most of the first half, with a shot by Knoblock only 20 seconds into the game which Hughes leapt high to snare. The Chargers just could not penetrate Catholic Central’s defense, which yielded just 20 goals over 24 games.
“I am proud of this group for what they accomplished the past few years,” continued Rowe. “The seniors set the tone. We’ve won league championships, Districts and Regionals over the past (four years). They did a good job of making it here. We had some chances. If we would have put one in early in the game, things might have been different. (Catholic Central) is a very good defensive team. (Their) tall kid, number 11 (Josh Steffes) had them very organized, and they had him shadowing our best offensive player the whole game.”
Hughes picked up six saves for his team’s 11th clean sheet in 24 games.
Tilden finished with six saves for Powers Catholic, including two where he had to punch aside consecutive shots in the second half by GRCC’s Fernando Garcia.
Both teams traded off 10 shots in the contest, with Catholic Central holding a 7-6 edge with shots directly on frame. There were no corner kicks in the game, although both teams had several long throw-ins into the penalty box.
All attempts were thwarted except O’Neal’s games-winning tally.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Fernando Garcia (7) works for possession against Flint Powers Catholic’s Dominic Ruth. (Middle) GRCC’s Langston Cooper (4) gets position while Trevor Purman defends.