Unity Christian Stacks 4th-Straight Finals Title, 24th-Straight Postseason Shutout
By
Drew Ellis
Special for MHSAA.com
June 13, 2026
EAST LANSING – The unblemished championship run of Hudsonville Unity Christian continues.
The Crusaders completed their fourth-consecutive playoff run without allowing a single goal Saturday, this time defeating Bloomfield Hills Marian 2-0 in the Division 2 championship match at DeMartin Field.
“It’s a credit to the girls,” Unity Christian coach Randy Heethuis said of the recent run and 14th title in program history. “I know it is a cliché, but we just play one game at a time. Next game, next team up and let’s put our best foot forward and let’s do what we do, and what Unity soccer does. They know the prescription for success and they were able to carry it out, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Unity Christian (24-0) has claimed its second-straight D2 title after winning the Division 3 championships in 2023 and 2024. In all four cases, the Crusaders didn’t allow their opponents to get on the scoreboard throughout all six postseason matches.
This time, the Crusaders allowed just one goal for the entire season, matching an MHSAA record previously set by Livonia Stevenson in 1997.
On top of all that, Unity Christian has now gone 55 consecutive matches without being defeated, a run dating back to May 22, 2024.
“I’m not sure how much they are really aware or think about records or streaks or this, that, and the other thing,” Heethuis said of all his team’s accomplishments this season.
Marian (21-3) knew the lore Unity Christian had created for itself, but the Mustangs were appearing in their 15th MHSAA Final, seeking their 10th title in program history.
They survived the early charge from the Crusaders and started to turn the momentum of the match in their favor midway through the first half.
“We didn’t start quickly enough. That pressure that (Unity Christian) put us under in the first 5-10 minutes, we rode it. We rode that pressure,” Marian coach Danny Price said. “I felt like we defended well through it and then sort of grew into the game a little bit.”
The Mustangs thought they may have had the first goal 30 minutes in when junior Nia Bordogna put a shot that went off the bottom of the crossbar and bounced near the goal line before Unity Christian senior goalie Payton Barendsen corralled it.
“It that goes in, their record is gone. It changes the game and puts them under a little bit more pressure,” Price said of the near-goal. “Now somebody’s scored on (them) and they’ve conceded (a goal) in the Final. So, I felt the momentum swing a little bit after that.”
Just five minutes later, the Crusaders would get the first goal of the game. Senior Kiersten Witte made a run toward the net and collided with a pair of Mustangs, including keeper Caitlyn Curtis. The ball trickled over to the foot of junior Myla Obande, who casually put it into the back of a wide-open net to make it 1-0.
“I just knew that this shot had to go in and when I hit it, the ball was rolling so slowly, it felt like it took forever to go in,” Obande said. “When it went in, I was so relieved, and so happy. I just wanted to help the team get the job done.”
With three minutes left in the half, Unity Christian junior Kyla Kobrzycki got in open field and charged toward the Marian goal. She played a shot that hit the right-side post, but then landed on the foot of senior teammate Tessa Ponstein for another goal to make it 2-0.
In the second half, Marian made Unity Christian earn the shutout. Barendsen recorded five saves in the match, including a pair of diving saves during the final 40 minutes.
Not to be outdone, Marian’s Curtis, a freshman, tallied 10 saves as she kept the Crusaders from building on their lead.
“She was brilliant,” Price said of Curtis. “She made some cracking saves. She’s just fantastic. She’s a good kid and she reads the game well, and has good positioning. What a performance from a freshman goalie in a big, big game like this.”
Avery Dekker, Ava Steen, Karli Rose, and Ruthie Hall handled the back-line defense for Unity Christian in yet another shutout, the program’s 23rd of the year.
“Our entire team, they bought into their roles, whether they are on the bench or whether they start,” Heethuis said. “They just do what is asked of them, and that’s a credit to them.”
PHOTOS Unity Christian’s Kiersten Witte (14), Marlie Moelker (15) and Myla Obande (24) celebrate during their team’s Division 3 Final victory Saturday. (Middle) The Crusaders’ Kyla Kobrzycki (21) attempts to nudge the ball past Marian keeper Caitlyn Curtis, far left. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Powers Learns, Returns, Wins D3 Title
June 16, 2017
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
WILLIAMSTON – Kennedy Myers didn’t want to forget the images, even if they were still like piercing wounds.
A sophomore forward for the Flint Powers Catholic girls soccer team, Myers had flashbacks of last year’s Division 3 title game loss to Hudsonville Unity Christian when Powers took the field to face Freeland in this year’s Final on Friday.
“Right before this game started, I remembered last year and how the seniors felt getting their medals for second place,” Myers said. “Seeing their faces and how disappointed they were. I knew I had to use that to motivate me today.”
Thanks to two early goals from Myers, Powers made good of another title chance and had a much happier disposition during the medal ceremony this time following a 4-0 defeat of Freeland.
The championship was the second in school history for Powers (26-1-2), which also won it all in 2011.
“You look back knowing we were a better team last year,” Powers coach Art Moody said. “Nothing against Unity because they did what they needed to. We just outshot them last year and learned from that. We came in here saying these were the things we needed to do better. It meant so much to have that negative to look back on to kind of say, ‘Hey, this is how we are going to turn it into a positive.’”
Powers took a 1-0 lead with 30:18 remaining in the first half on a goal by Myers, who found herself with the ball right in front of the goal following a series of deflections off a free kick.
Powers then scored two goals over a span of 1:34, the first by Myers with 19:05 left in the first half.
Dribbling toward the goal from the right side of the net, she had a shot blocked by Freeland junior goalkeeper Alexa Walker.
But the ball bounced back toward the middle of the box, Myers won the race to the ball and fired into an open net to make it 2-0 Powers.
With 17:31 left in the first half, senior Emilie Pechette then drilled home a shot from 18 yards out to give the Chargers a 3-0 lead.
“I definitely think it shot our confidence down,” Freeland coach Lauren Kemerer said. “I just tried to explain to the girls that if something like that happens, you have to pick yourselves up.”
Powers made it 4-0 with 20:25 left in the game when senior Gabrielle Amato headed home a ball in the box off a corner kick by senior Sophia Dubiel that deflected off of a Freeland defender and went in.
“(Last year) definitely carried with us,” Powers senior sweeper Rachel Phillpotts said. “It definitely made an impact on how we came out here and how we did our season this year. We needed to come out and really show people that last year was not a fluke.”
Freeland (23-2) entered with a lot of momentum following a 3-2 Semifinal win Tuesday over three-time reigning champion Unity Christian.
The downside from that win for Freeland was that it lost one of its best players, senior midfielder Jessica Piper, late in the game to a knee injury.
Piper didn’t play in the title game against Powers.
“She’s a phenomenal player,” Kemerer said. “Defensively and offensively she’s a leader on our team, and it was definitely detrimental to our team to not have her.”
Still, Freeland did make the MHSAA championship game for the first time in school history.
“Our goal this year was getting past Unity,” Kemerer said. “We wanted it and worked towards it. We hit our goals. We expected to make it here. It’s unfortunate we lost, but it is what it is. It’s a learning experience for all of us.”
Click for the full scoring summary.
PHOTOS: (Top) Flint Powers Catholic players celebrate during Saturday's Division 3 Final at Williamston High School. (Middle) Freeland's Erin Tyson (2) works to gain possession against Powers' Dominique Amato (19).