New Heroes Bring Unity Christian Repeat Result in Finals Rematch
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 15, 2024
EAST LANSING – There were plenty of new faces on the field this season for the Hudsonville Unity Christian girls soccer team, but the result ended up being very familiar.
The Crusaders claimed their second-straight Division 3 Finals title Saturday at DeMartin Stadium, and for the second-straight year did so with a 3-0 victory over Grosse Ile.
“We had 12 seniors graduate last year from that state title team, and I think 15 kids total that didn’t return,” Unity Christian coach Randy Heethuis said. “The kids that came back, it was a good solid core, and they did a good job of leading us back here the entire year. The youngsters, they came along. Pretty much every challenge that we threw at them – we had a tough schedule – they answered the bell.”
It was the 12th title for Heethuis and the Unity Christian program, tying Madison Heights Bishop Foley for most in the sport’s history.
“I feel like it’s very good for our school,” said junior forward Ava Lutke. “We worked really hard to get here. Every year is a new year, but we work our butts off to get to the state finals and to win, so it’s really good.”
Also really good? Lutke. The Michigan State commit had a goal and two assists for the Crusaders on her future home field. She totaled 11 shots, with six on frame against Grosse Ile keeper Monica Arndt.
As Heethuis talked about many options he had while putting his team together this season, he was asked what part of that was Lutke.
“Many pieces,” he said with a smile. “And to her credit, too, she struggled a little bit early in the year. But she played different positions. I think she prefers to play up top, which she did probably three-fourths of the time today, but we played her in the midfield, she does great there. A couple times she even went back into more of a holding, defensive center mid spot – she’s just a gamer. She’s extremely competitive and wants to do whatever she can to help the team win. That’s a credit to her.”
Lutke set up Unity Christian’s first goal, taking a ball down the wing and turning it inside, which drew three Grosse Ile defenders toward her. She found the supporting run of Emma Vruggink in the box, and Vruggink smashed the ball into the open net 14 minutes, 27 seconds into the first half.
Unity Christian (22-1-1) consistently put pressure on the Grosse Ile defense, pinning the Red Devils back into their own end for much of the game. But between Arndt, who had 12 saves, and some timely defending, the score remained 1-0 through the first 10 minutes of the second half.
At that point, however, Unity Christian found some cracks and scored a pair of goals in less than two minutes.
The first came when Lutke jumped on a loose ball near the top of the box and slotted it inside the post. Several passes led to the build-up of the goal, with Addi Pell pushing it in Lutke’s direction. On the way there, it took a glance off a Grosse Ile defender, falling right into Lutke’s path.
Tessa Ponstein scored 1 minute, 43 seconds later, with a curling left-footed shot from outside the box that found the opposite corner. Lutke had the assist on that goal.
Grosse Ile coach Kyle Lesperance said that while he felt his team was able to create a little more than it did a year ago against Unity Christian, the Red Devils (17-3-5) were still facing an uphill battle.
“They’re just so dangerous. They’re so fast-paced,” Lesperance said. “They’re technical on the ball, they’re very well-coached in their positions and off-the-ball movements. They’re a beast in this division.”
And this version of Unity Christian wasn’t even at full strength. Senior forward Vivian Nagelkirk, who led the team in scoring this season, injured her ankle in the Semifinal win against Freeland and had to be helped off the field.
She started Saturday, though, and while clearly laboring at times, was pushing the ball up the field until she was finally subbed off in the final 10 minutes.
“To be honest, I knew I was going to play,” she said. “I wasn’t going to sit out. When it happened right away, I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t think I’m going to play.’ But then I was like, “There’s no way I’m sitting out of this thing.’ So we just wrapped it up really tight, and we played.”
Nagelkirk finished the game with two of her team’s 32 total shots on the day. Grosse Ile managed three shots, with one testing Unity Christian keeper Anna Newhof, who made the single save required of her.
PHOTOS (Top) Unity Christian celebrates its repeat Division 3 Final win over Grosse Ile on Saturday. (Middle) Grosse Ile’s Alaina Korody winds up to send the ball downfield. (Below) Unity’s Emma Vruggink (12) controls possession while Olivia Zuccaro (16) defends.
GPN Gives Extraordinary Ending to Unimaginable Run with 1st Finals Title
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
June 16, 2023
EAST LANSING – Grosse Pointe North girls soccer coach Olivia Dallaire sent a special thank you to her co-workers at Grosse Pointe Beaumont Hospital Friday afternoon after her team claimed its first MHSAA Finals title at DeMartin Stadium.
“I played four years here on this field (at Michigan State) and four years as a player at Grosse Pointe North,’’ Dallaire said. “I’m very speechless. I’m at a loss for words. I couldn’t get it done as a senior in the state championship game. I’m so proud of these girls that they were able to bring it home.
“I did have to go to work today,” the nurse anesthetist added, “but my co-workers allowed me to work half a shift and covered for me.’’
The Norsemen earned a 3-2 edge in a shootout to clinch a 3-2 win over East Grand Rapids in the Division 2 championship game. After winning just one game in the Macomb Area Conference Red this spring and entering the postseason with four victories total, the Norsemen capped their first championship run at 10-7-7 – proving it’s good to get hot at the right time.
The winning kick in the shootout came from senior Mia Stephanoff. Goalkeeper Grace McCormick did the rest, stopping two shots by EGR with another flying over the goal.
“I always pick the same side because I practice it every day,’’ said Stephanoff. “I know I’m good at it and I know I can make it, even when they guess right, which she did. When I saw her I said ‘Oh God.’
North was down 2-0, but Dallaire changed the offense in the second half and McCormick was phenomenal in goal.
“We’ve been down 2-0 before,’’ said Stephanoff. “In our Regional Semifinal against (Bloomfield Hills) Marian we were down 2-0. It wasn’t really that big. We knew we could come back.’’
East Grand Rapids twins Gracie and Reese Lynn are freshmen and destined to be stars. They scored the first two goals for the Pioneers to stake them to a 2-0 lead.
East Grand Rapids (18-3-3) was seeking its first championship since 2002 and finished third in the Ottawa-Kent Conference White this spring, while Grosse Pointe North was fifth in the MAC Red and had finished Division 1 runner-up in 2008 when Dallaire was a junior.
On cue, the Lynn sisters combined for the first goal of the game just less than 11 minutes in when Gracie took a pass from Reese and blasted a shot from 19 yards out into the right-side corner of the net.
After being dragged down by a Norsemen defender, Reese was granted a penalty kick. She didn’t disappoint as she drilled the shot to make it 2-0 after 13 minutes.
GPN responded when freshman Meredith Dodenhoff scored off an assist from junior midfielder Amelia Streberger from just outside the box with 15:10 left in the first half to make it 2-1.
The Norsemen then tied the score with just under 15 minutes left in regulation when Alyssa Burney’s corner kick was mishandled and bounced into the net for an own goal.
Neither team scored over 20 minutes over overtime, although EGR got close during the second half of the extra period when Margaret Periard had a shot that drifted just right of the net.
Gabby Miller followed an opening shootout miss by EGR by sending her shot into the net. Reese Lynn tied the shootout 1-1, and the Pioneers went up 2-1 on Toki Budelmann’s make. But Streberger tied it at 2-2, and Stephanoff decided it on GPN’s next kick.
There was added history to the Norseman’s first title. Since at least 1991 – the farthest back published results include team records – no girls soccer team had advanced to an MHSAA Final with fewer than 10 wins until GPN and Clarkston Everest Collegiate in Division 4 both did so this week.
“This means so much to me and my team,’’ said McCormick. “This whole year we’ve been the underdog. We worked so hard. So many players have improved. It’s been a really great season. We did the same thing against Marian. I loved that we didn’t give up.’’
PHOTOS (Top) Grosse Pointe North keeper Grace McCormick dives to her right to make the game-clinching save Friday. (Middle) East Grand Rapids’ Reese Lynn (16) and North’s Amelia Streberger battle for possession. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)