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.
Bolstered by Bonnema, Kalamazoo Christian Adds 2nd Win of 4-Year Finals Run
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 14, 2025
EAST LANSING – Kalamazoo Christian girls soccer coach Jay Allen was asking a lot of senior midfielder Jordyn Bonnema during Saturday’s Division 4 Final at Michigan State University.
Bonnema was tasked with tracking Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett’s Kerith Short around the field, and making sure the Knights’ leading scorer didn’t get free.
Just as Allen expected, Bonnema did her part, and then some.
The Kalamazoo Christian senior scored a pair of goals and made life difficult for Short in the Comets’ 4-1 victory at DeMartin Stadium.
“She’s just a pure athlete,” Allen said. “She was bound and determined to win. It’s not just in soccer – it’s golf, it’s in basketball, it’s in the classroom, she’s a 3.9 student. The kid doesn’t know a loss. She’s driven.”
The title was the sixth in program history for the Comets, and second in three years. They were making their fourth-straight Finals appearance, having lost in a shootout a year ago against Jackson Lumen Christi.
For Bonnema, who had played in all four of those Finals, walking away as runner-up again was not an option.
“This is my last time in the black and gold, or purple and gold, and it’s bittersweet, but I just wanted to give it my all,” she said. “This has been such a long ride. Soccer was my first sport, I picked it up when I was 3 years old. To be here, stepping on the field for maybe the last time in my life, there can be no regrets. So I was just coming into the game with that mentality, that this might be the last time I’m ever going to lace up the cleats, so making sure I left nothing behind and leave it all on the field. I’m just super grateful for the opportunity to play for such an amazing program and with my best friends.”
Bonnema scored the second and third goals for Kalamazoo Christian, twice giving her team a two-goal lead in the second half. Izzy Suloff and Laila Rashid also scored, while Avery Lambarth had two assists and Rachel Miller had one.
Kalamazoo Christian keeper Kailey Triemstra had nine saves. Most came on shots from outside the box, as the Comets defense, led by Maysen Steensma, did a good job of limiting opportunities for the Knights.
“I give them a lot of credit; they were defensively really solid,” Liggett coach David Dwaihy said. “They were really organized. They’d bend, but they didn’t break. They did all the things championship teams do defensively, and their goalie was there for them when they needed. Full credit to them, they deserve that. I thought that we did give them a good game, though, and I thought we represented ourselves really well and played with a style we can feel really good about.”
Short did score the lone goal for Liggett, bending in an Olimpico off a corner kick, after she had created the best scoring chance of the afternoon for her team, cutting inside on a defender and getting off a shot that deflected wide.
It was clear, though, each time she touched the ball that the Comets were determined to not give her any space to work.
“Our gameplan was Jordyn Bonnema,” Allen said. “Jordyn Bonnema was told you just can’t let her beat us. Jordyn just shadowed her, made sure she didn’t get clean looks, and that’s where we were at. We also fall back on Maysen Steensma, who is a solid brick wall back there, and kind of organized things. It was just a group effort.”
Kalamazoo Christian, which arrived late to the 2024 Final after its bus broke down, got off to a quick start Saturday, scoring within the first three minutes. Suloff collected the ball near the top of the box, created space to her right and fired a shot over the head of Liggett keeper Aline Rahaim, who had six saves on the day.
The second half opened much the same, as Bonnema scored less than three minutes in, charging into the box and getting on the end of a cross from Lambarth, making it 2-0.
While that looked to have killed momentum Liggett had been building through the end of the first half, the Knights found their answer five minutes later with Short’s goal.
“I think in the first half it helped us; in a weird way, I think it kind of woke us up,” Dwaihy said. “While playing from behind, we were a little more relaxed, and that ‘Let’s play to win’ vibe, as opposed to playing not to lose. It really favored us for the rest of the half. The next 37 minutes, we worked our way into the game and got some chances, but more importantly, we held a lot of the possession. That was key, because as we started to lose that in the second half, tired legs started to set in and the game got away from us.”
Bonnema made it a two-goal game again, scoring with a header off Miller’s corner with 10:14 to play.
“It’s for sure a little more reassuring, but we’re still back on defense and for sure not ready (to celebrate) until the clock hits zero,” Bonnema said. “It was nice to have a little bit of a gap, though, for sure.”
When Rashid followed up Lambarth’s shot and made it 4-1 with 7:05 to go, however, the die was cast, and it was clear the Comets would be lifting the trophy.
“This senior class has been here four times, so to end their senior year like this is special for them,” Allen said. “They are just such a hard-working group, and with all the hard work they put in, we were knocking off teams we shouldn’t have been and we got here. This week, and the last two days of practice, you could tell they wanted it, and we didn’t quit for 80 minutes.”
PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Christian players celebrate during their Division 4 championship win Saturday at DeMartin Stadium. (Middle) The Comets’ Jordyn Bonnema (21) marks University Liggett’s Aubrey Hermann. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)