Final Burst Nets Unity's 9th Title
June 12, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Hudsonville Unity Christian and Detroit Country Day had played 95 minutes Friday afternoon. Bursts of speed were in short supply.
Crusaders junior Maddy VanDyke had one left – she made it, and the next few seconds felt like slow motion.
That’s how she saw her go-ahead goal with 4 minutes and 12 seconds left in the second overtime of the Division 3 Final at Michigan State University, a goal that resulted in Unity Christian claiming a 2-1 victory and its ninth MHSAA championship in a rematch of last season’s title decider.
Senior Bethany Balcer found VanDyke on a long pass as she sprinted toward the goal with two Country Day defenders in tow. VanDyke’s shot was deflected by the Yellowjackets’ keeper – but then slowly rolled toward and past the goal line as the Country Day defenders just missed catching up.
“It was perfectly placed that I could sprint and have a burst of energy, in order to go to the goal. As soon as I realized it was me and the keeper, it kinda got a little tense,” VanDyke said. “As soon as it crossed the line … (it was) just the feeling of accomplishment and amazement, joy.
“Coach just kept saying to play the corners and cross them in … and as soon as the ball was played to the corner, I feel like everyone, whether outside forward or outside mid, we got that burst of energy to want that goal and want to see that scoreboard at two to one.”
Unity Christian’s run has been nearly unprecedented. The Crusaders have won three titles in four seasons, with all nine coming over the last 11 seasons. Only Madison Heights Bishop Foley, with 12, has won more girls soccer championships.
Overtime couldn’t have been a thought for anyone who watched the first 20 minutes of regulation. Like it did for what had to be at least 90 of the 100 minutes total, Unity Christian dominated possession – until Country Day sophomore Lauren Alshab shook two defenders and launched the Yellowjackets’ first shot of the game, drilling it 21 yards and over the Unity Christian keeper’s outstretched arms into the far top corner of the net.
Still, the Crusaders finished with 31 shots including 15 on goal. They kept firing from just about every angle unsuccessfully until junior Abby Neinhuis took a pass deep in the box with 16:55 left in regulation and punched the equalizer into the net.
Unity Christian got off seven more shots during regulation and five during the first 10-minute overtime. VanDyke’s winner was one of only two shots by either team during the final extra period.
“I’m sure the fans were on the edge of their seats. We were on the edge of our seats,” Unity Christian coach Randy Heethuis said. “The thing with Country Day, they won their last two games on penalty kicks. We really didn’t want to go there. That experience, a very good goalkeeper, not that we weren’t confident in going and doing that, but we were going to throw everything at them to see if we could get that game winner, and lo and behold we did.
“You saw a girl (VanDyke) that played 80 minutes, and she ran away from the defenders there and found a way to will it past their keeper.”
Indeed, Country Day had advanced with shootout wins over Grosse Ile in the Regional Final and Flint Powers Catholic in the Semifinal.
Sophomore keeper Isabel Nino had 13 saves as she and her crew of defenders – among them senior Jenna Staudt, sophomores Olivia Heppard and Dagny Hill, junior Naomi Hill and senior Libby Ronchetto dropping back from the midfield – repeatedly turned back runs by Unity Christian forwards who seemed to have at least a few inches of height on most of them.
“We came in as an underdog. … Our legs are gone. There’s no doubt they’re the better team, and they won the game, but I’m very proud of my athletes and everything they gave on the field,” Country Day coach Bob Bukari said. “We were just a few minutes away from going to PKs again, and I think we would’ve won them because our goalkeeper is outstanding in PKs.”
VanDyke said scoring the title-winning goal was an honor, and thanked those who have supported her during a school year that began with significant heartbreak. Her father Rod, a teacher and the girls golf coach at Grand Rapids South Christian, died Oct. 7 after he was struck by a car while riding his bike.
He too had experienced an MHSAA championship, having led the Sailors to the Lower Peninsula Division 3 golf title in 2009.
“(I'm) just wishing that I had my dad in the stands, but I know it can’t be like that,” VanDyke said. “But I know he’s watching me, and I have a lot of people supporting me, and that’s what gets me through it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Unity Christian’s Maddy VanDyke (14) celebrates her go-ahead goal during Friday’s Division 3 Final. (Middle) Unity’s Lauren Orr (4) and Country Day’s Hannah Hansen work to gain possession.
Marian Continues D2 Dominance with 4th-Straight Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 18, 2021
EAST LANSING – Olivia DeConinck had a feeling Friday after she strode from her defensive position to join the Bloomfield Hills Marian attack on a corner kick.
The Mustangs senior and Bucknell soccer signee didn’t make the run she typically would for a header, and that left her in perfect position to score the goal that put her team on track for a fourth-straight MHSAA Division 2 Girls Soccer Finals title.
“I guess it was just instinct,” she said. “I’m not really sure, my body just kind of took over. I knew someone needed to be there, so I got there.”
Marian’s 3-0 victory gave the program its ninth title overall, as its hold on Division 2 soccer in the state has lasted since 2017 and even spanned a canceled season. This year’s team finished 13-3-1 and did not allow a goal throughout the postseason, outscoring its opponents 26-0 over six matches.
“We win because we have really good players,” Marian coach Barry Brodsky said. “They’re smart. They’re in the classroom very smart, and that makes coaching a pleasure.”
DeConinck’s instinctive play didn’t lead to the winning goal, nor did it come late enough in the game to be considered a game-sealer. But in making the score 2-0 early in the second half, it may have been the goal that took the most wind out of a Spring Lake team that felt very in the game up until that point.
When Marian freshman Elle Ervin extended the lead to 3-0 just 2 minutes, 30 seconds later, that became even more clear.
“I think the 1-0 lead, it still kind of got in their heads that they were just one goal away, one opportunity away from tying it up and getting back in the game,” DeConinck said. “I think once we put that second in there, we kind of proved our dominance and it lifted our spirits up.”
The goal came on what DeConinck described as a shot, but one she hoped one of her teammates could finish. She floated the ball to the opposite post, and it made its way into the net on its own. The official and the linesman conferred after the goal to make sure an offside Marian player had not had an impact on the play, and decided the goal stood.
“She’s been a full-time player since her freshman year, she’s going to Bucknell to play – she's a stud,” Brodsky said. “You get some studs on your team and you’re going to have a good team, and she’s one of them. She won’t like me saying it, but her two sisters before her were the same. I’ve had a DeConinck on the team since 2014, and this was the last one. They’re special. She’s a stud player, and a stud athlete, and a stud student, and a stud person.”
Ervin opened the scoring less than five minutes into the game, finishing after a goalmouth scramble. She had another chance midway through the first half, as she was left alone in the box for a header, but Spring Lake keeper Jessica Stewart was there to make the save.
Ervin, a freshman, was the team’s leading scorer on the season with 24 goals, and she’s one of 17 players who could return next season. So, while the Mustangs will graduate seven senior starters, there’s plenty of firepower remaining.
“Coming in at the very beginning, I did not know what to expect,” Ervin said. “I just knew we had a lot of people coming back with these seniors who had won two championships already, and I didn’t know what role I was going to play. Right when I came in, all of them were so accepting, and I was like, ‘Whoa, I am totally part of this team.’ We had our first couple games, and I realized I had to play a big role. I had to step up, even as a freshman.”
Spring Lake (15-4-2), which was making its first Finals appearance, had its own opportunities in the half, mostly off the foot of junior forward Meah Bajt. She powered one off the crossbar not long after Ervin’s goal and created her own breakaway chance near the midpoint of the half, but her shot spun wide of the Marian net.
The second half, however, was all Marian, as Mustangs keeper Izabel Toma had to make just one save in the game, and it came in the first half. Spring Lake’s Stewart, meanwhile, made eight stops.
“It was a crazy, crazy ride,” Spring Lake coach Becky May said. “I just threw a bunch of kids out there – they were in middle school last year – and now they’re playing on this big stage. You could just tell they were young, and there were mistakes made that were young mistakes, and we’ll work on them. But they have a ton of heart, and we got farther than anybody ever thought we would.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Marian's Emily Rassel (17) considers her next move Friday while Spring Lake's Ryann Gilchrist defends. (Middle) The Mustangs' Elle Ervin (10) winds up for a shot with the Lakers' Kate Lewkowski (17) in pursuit.