Unity Finishes D3 Run With 11th Title, Without Giving up Postseason Goal
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
June 16, 2023
EAST LANSING – Dynasty.
Hudsonville Unity Christian has been to the Division 3 Girls Soccer Finals 15 times and reached at least the Semifinals 19 seasons.
Friday’s 3-0 championship win over Grosse Ile – which was making its first Finals appearance – was the 11th for legendary coach Randy Heethuis, who also finished his 34thseason with 620 victories. Counting his tenure as the school’s boys coach, Heethuis has racked up 1,122 victories.
During this playoff run the Crusaders outscored their six opponents by a combined 35-0. For the season, the Unity Christian defense allowed just eight goals – against great competition – and never more than one in a game.
The championship was the program’s first since 2016.
“We lost in a shootout last year in the Finals (against Williamston), and the year before we lost in the Semifinals, so it has been a while,’’ said Heethuis, recalling the 3-2 back-and-forth loss to the Hornets a year ago.
“We had Brianna (Rose), a starting center back, and she’s kind of the anchor of the defense. Morgan’s (Scholten) is a three-year starter in goal. The two outside backs, Ella Bosscher and Kirstin Dekock … they were fantastic. They just came on so strong as the year went on. They continued to beat people to the ball and kept the ball out of our end.
“That was a very defensive-mind Grosse Ile team, but we didn’t give them any looks.’’
Dominant.
Officially Unity Christian’s winning goal was scored by junior forward Stella DeSmit, who also chipped in an assist.
“It’s just great. Not everyone gets to do this,’’ said DeSmit. “It’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime. It’s the 11th for the program, but it’s the first for us. It has been a long drought. We all work hard, but I don’t think our defense gets enough credit for how much they do for us. They carry us back there. Working through our defense and making passes up to our forwards. It’s just not the forwards – it’s our whole team.
With a lineup sprinkled with Division I and II college talent, the Crusaders improved to 21-1-2 with the win. Grosse Ile finished 17-3-4.
Unity Christian dominated play in the early going, but Cailey O’Farrell was great in goal for Grosse Ile, keeping the Crusaders off the scoreboard nearly the entire first half. Her 11 saves for the game included stops with her face and stomach and made the MHSAA record book list for the most in a championship game.
Unity Christian finally broke through with two minutes, 54 seconds left in the first half on DeSmit’s goal off an assist from Emily Timmer.
The Crusaders made it 2-0 when Rose, a senior, headed in a corner kick at the 30:13 mark.
Senior forward Jenna Schreiber scored at the 24:42 mark off an assist from DeSmit to give Unity a commanding 3-0 lead.
“We just keep talking together and working together,’’ said Scholten. “It comes down to communication. We beat the other team to the ball. The first goal takes the pressure off, but we keep working towards the next goal. The depth of our team allows us to keep coming and wear the other team down.’’
PHOTOS (Top) Hudsonville Unity Christian’s Emily Timmer (20) controls possession Friday, with Grosse Ile’s Ella Gatti defending. (Middle) Jessie Postma (9) sets up for a free kick. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Top-Ranked Rangers Finish Run to #1
June 17, 2017
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
WILLIAMSTON – Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central girls soccer coach Jeremy Stacy technically had an MHSAA championship on his coaching resume before Saturday, but he wasn’t there that day to experience it.
In his first year leading the Rangers’ program back in 2008, Stacy got married on the same day they won the Division 2 title.
On Saturday though, no wedding vows or cake cutting prevented him from experiencing what it was like to win the ultimate prize.
Behind second-half goals from senior Bailey Korhorn and sophomore Ashley Ward, Forest Hills Central won its first-ever Division 1 championship with a 2-0 win over Grand Blanc.
Forest Hills Central had previously won Division 2 championships in 2005, 2007 and 2008.
Adding to the title for Stacy was that the victory came on his wife’s birthday, three days after his wedding anniversary and a day before he planned on celebrating Father’s Day with his four children.
“It feels really good,” Stacy said. “It was cool to see the atmosphere here. Regardless of the result, it is fun to be in a state final. But it is much cooler to be on the winning end, that’s for sure.”
The championship also capped off a season where Forest Hills Central had to carry the target of being the state’s No. 1-ranked team for a majority of it.
“It was kind of a struggle sometimes,” Stacy said. “We had so much pressure that we weren’t having as much fun as we needed to have to get better. We had a little talk about that midseason. We had more fun and got better in the process.”
After a first half that featured few scoring chances, Forest Hills Central opened the scoring 10 minutes into the second on a goal by Korhorn, who has signed to continue her career at University of Cincinnati.
Korhorn got the ball at the top of the box, turned and fired a laser into the left corner of the net to make it 1-0 Rangers.
“I took a touch and shot it top-left,” Korhorn said. “As soon as I saw it hit the back of the net, it was unreal. It was the best feeling of my life.
“What a great four years I’ve had here at Central. I’ll miss it so much.”
Forest Hills Central (21-0-4) then added an insurance goal with 5:48 remaining when Ward headed in a chance in front of the goal after a prior opportunity hit the crossbar.
“It was a great game and great opponent,” Grand Blanc coach Greg Kehler said. “They finished their chances, and we didn’t. It’s not like we didn’t have good opportunities. Hats off to them.”
Grand Blanc was attempting to win its first MHSAA title following losses in the 2015 and 2004 title games, and saw its season end with a 22-3-4 record.
“I’m the Bud Grant and Marv Levy of high school soccer,” Kehler joked, referring to former NFL coaches who lost a combined eight Super Bowls. “They lost four and I’ve lost (three). But it’s a battle to get here, and we’ll keep battling to get back. It will turn over one day.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Forest Hills Central’s Stephanie Curry (14) maintains possession while Grand Blanc’s Samantha Lewis defends. (Middle) Grand Blanc’s Lara Wheeler (5) and the Rangers’ Madison Donley battle for control of the ball.