Shut-Down Defense Nets Unity D3 Win
November 1, 2014
By Ron Rop
Special for Second Half
KENTWOOD – When a team plays defense like Hudsonville Unity Christian is used to playing, it sure takes a lot of pressure off the offensive players when they often need to score only one score.
That air-tight defense was on display Saturday in the MHSAA Division 3 Boys Soccer Final as the Crusaders defeated Williamston 1-0 on a sunny, yet windy and chilly afternoon at Crestwood Middle School.
How good has the Crusaders’ defense been of late?
Saturday’s title game saw Unity’s 17th shutout in its last 19 games. And that string of shutouts came after Unity allowed nine goals in its first six games, including its only loss, 4-3, at the hands of Grand Rapids Christian.
For the Crusaders, it was the program’s fourth title with the last coming in 2012 in Division 2.
“We really emphasize team defense, all 11 defending together,” Unity coach Randy Heethuis said. “Williamston played a great game. They beat us to a lot of balls, especially late in the first half. Things got a little better for us in the second half.”
It was the early going of the opening half that produced the only goal the Crusaders would need.
A 50-yard free kick off the foot of senior defender Trent Vegter found the head of fellow senior Jared Timmer for the game’s lone goal with just 6½ minutes elapsed off the first-half clock.
“Trent Vegter played it in and No. 17 (Josh Flint) was man-marking me the entire game – give him credit, he was doing very well – but I kind of snuck in behind him and he missed it,” Timmer said. “And I just tried to put it back post, and it just went over the keeper’s hands.”
It was Timmer’s team-leading 30th goal of the season.
And with a solid defense, that single goal took off a lot of pressure off the Crusaders.
“When we scored that first goal, it was like OK, we had only given up two goals in the last 18 games, but you don’t know if a goal like that is going to hold up,” Heethuis said.
Unity Christian finished the season 24-1 while Williamston ended 14-4-6.
The Hornets had a solid attack from the outside, led by junior forward Zach Griffin, the team’s leading scorer throughout the season.
“They had a few dangerous moments, and it was not one that we could cruise through by any stretch of the imagination,” Heethuis said.
In the latter stages of the opening half, Williamston did make some noise in the offensive end when Jacob Topp found Josh Ward, who narrowly missed with a shot from a sharp angle.
In the second half, as Williamston was trying to mount offensive pressure in an attempt to produce a tying goal, the Unity defense took control with center back Nick Dykman, Jacob Brinks, MacKenna Senti and Bryce Schreur leading the way along with goalkeeper Lucas Ohlman.
With 14 minutes remaining in the game, Unity nearly added a second goal when Timmer unloaded a 30-yard shot that caused some problems for Hornets goalkeeper Jake Iannarelli. With the ball rolling free in front of the goal, Carson Brinks was able to get a foot on the ball, but could not find the net.
From there, the Crusaders were able to run out the clock and celebrate another MHSAA soccer title.
“At the beginning of the year, we talk to the kids and tell them the season is going to be broken up this way,” Heethuis said. “The first thing is to compete for a conference title. That is goal No. 1. Then, after that, we are going to take on the state tournament, and you’ve got three little tournaments. You have three games to win the district, you get by that and it’s two more to be regional champs and two more to be state champs. They focused on the games they needed to, and we came out on top.”
“We told the boys it would be a one-goal game,” Williamston coach Brent Sorg said. “We knew they are a very good team. But you know what? We liked the way we matched up with them. We are a very good team.”
“Their goalkeeper didn’t have to deal with much, their back do an incredible job of screening and blocking shots and winning the first ball, and it’s a credit to them,” Sorg added.
PHOTOS: (Top) Unity Christian's Jared Timmer maintains possession Saturday despite a challenge from Williamston junior Ian Petri. (Below) Williamston's Zach Richardson (11) attempts to get the ball away from Unity's Carson Brinks. (Click for all team and action photos from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Country Day Proves Coach's Intuition True in Claiming Record 16th Finals Win
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 1, 2025
GRAND LEDGE — Often at the start of a season in August, Detroit Country Day boys soccer coach Steve Bossert said he will tell his wife that “we don’t have it this year.”
But before he could mutter those words this fall, Country Day went up to a tournament up at the Boyne Mountain Sports Complex in the middle of August and went 3-1 in four games.
At that point, Bossert had some different words for his wife.
“After we came back from that Boyne trip, I said, ‘I think we’re pretty good,’” Bossert said. “And then a couple of weeks after that, I said that ‘we might do this.’”
What “this” turned out to be was Country Day adding to its already record total of Finals championships won, as the Yellowjackets captured their 16th with a 4-1 win over South Haven in Saturday’s Division 3 Final.
It took Country Day seven years since winning its 15th title in 2018, but Country Day delivered in dominant fashion.
Country Day scored three goals during the first 18:50 of the game and never looked back in a one-sided effort, outshooting South Haven 31-5.
If not for 14 saves and overall brilliant play by South Haven senior keeper Alex Jaimes, the final score might have been more lopsided.
Senior Micah Zacks had two goals and an assist, and senior Tino Haratsaris had two assists to lead Country Day (22-2-1).
“We knew it was a good goalie, but we just had to keep shooting,” Zacks said. “There wasn’t much to it. Just keep shooting, and they’ll eventually go in. That’s what we did.”
South Haven (18-5-4) was attempting to win its first Finals title since being co-champion with Jackson Lumen Christi in 2003, but simply ran into a buzzsaw in Country Day.
“Overall, the season was something to be proud of,” South Haven head coach Randy Bautista. “Coming into the tournament we were not ranked. We beat tough opponents and ranked opponents throughout the playoffs. … Unfortunately it didn’t go our way today. But we keep our heads up and keep going.”
Country Day opened the scoring with 29:29 left in the first half on a beautifully constructed goal.
Stationed in front of the South Haven goal, Zacks headed a pass within the box to sophomore teammate Rye Clegg, who headed the ball himself into the goal to make it 1-0 Country Day.
The Yellowjackets took a 2-0 lead with 24:50 left in the first half on a goal by senior Yousef Darwich, who tapped the ball into an open goal after South Haven’s keeper couldn’t quite corral a strong cross sent in by Country Day junior Luke Hourani.
The Yellowjackets then went up 3-0 with 21:10 to go in the first on a goal by Zacks, who sent home the ball off of a corner kick.
With 36:35 remaining in the game, Country Day took a 4-0 lead when Haratsaris brilliantly maneuvered around a defender and sent a pass in front of the goal to Zacks, who buried the chance.
South Haven got on the board with 1:17 remaining on a goal by junior Jaden Bolhuis, who fired a shot from roughly 30 yards away that went under the crossbar.
PHOTOS (Top) Country Day’s Tino Haratsaris (2) connects on a shot while South Haven’s Isaac Chalupa (25) rushes to defend. (Middle) South Haven keeper Alex Jaimes goes high to get his hands on the ball. (Below) DCD’s Yousef Darwich makes a run with the Rams’ Luke Swearingen defending. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)