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.)
Schoolcraft Soccer Record Setter Brings Scoring Touch to Football Field
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
September 21, 2021
SCHOOLCRAFT — Soccer phenom Hannah Thompson has a flare for finding the net.
This fall, the Schoolcraft High School senior is aiming even higher – in the most literal sense.
Thompson is the place kicker on the Eagles’ football team, and in the team’s three games so far, she has connected on 4 of 5 point-after attempts.
The first female varsity football player in school history, Thompson is no stranger to breaking records.
Her 87 goals in soccer last spring not only set an MHSAA girls record for most goals in a season, but also eclipsed the boys mark.
Kristi Vandeberghe, a standout at Mount Clemens, had set the previous girls record with 66 goals in 2001. The boys record of 76 goals was set in 2009 by Dearborn’s Soony Saad.
While both sports involve kicking, the vivacious senior said there are differences.
“In soccer, you’re supposed to keep your body over the ball,” she said. “In football, you’re supposed to lean back so the ball goes higher. That’s probably the biggest difference.
“In football, if you try to kick as hard as you can, like for power, the ball can go off to the side. In soccer, you want to kick it hard.”
Head football coach Nathan Ferency, who teaches health and physical education at the high school, had tried to convince Thompson to join the team since she expressed an interest as a freshman.
“I took my health class outside one spring morning and worked her out a little bit to see if she could kick — and she can actually kick,” he added with a grin.
Ferency immediately offered her a spot on the junior varsity team, but since she plays travel hockey in the fall, she opted to concentrate on that until this year.
Her high school soccer coach, Scott Thompson, also her dad, has no problem with her playing football, “and my (soccer) teammates think it’s cool and amazing,” the senior said.
“They’re very supportive of me. My (travel) coaches do not like it whatsoever. They’re not a fan.”
Her dad sees some positives coming from football.
“As her coach, I have no issues with her playing football,” he said. “She’s working on driving through the ball and working on her leg muscles.
“Being in high school, I didn’t see any issues. As a place kicker, she has minimal opportunities for getting hurt.”
Ferency is aware that soccer is her main interest.
“We’re never going to put her into a kickoff situation where she has to hit somebody,” he said. “We feel comfortable in a PAT or field goal situation where she’s protected and unlikely to have contact.
“We want to preserve her senior year of soccer. That’s her love, and we want to make sure her goals are met.”
Thompson, who has committed to play soccer at Eastern Michigan University, said the hardest part of football is putting on the equipment, especially clipping down the shoulder pads.
“I wear youth large pads so they’re like the middle school pads, and it’s hard to get them clipped down,” she said, laughing while she demonstrated with her hands.
Pads also posed a bit of a problem for her debut.
“The first game, the girdle has the hip pads and the butt pads,” she said. “The pants have pads on the front and on the knees.
“I didn’t know you only had to wear one set. The first game I wore both and I had two pads everywhere. I didn’t know until the next game.”
Thompson said she is also developing her neck muscles.
“The helmet’s really heavy,” she said. “My neck’s getting strong.
“I have a big head, so I have to wear size large. But I got a new helmet that no one’s ever worn, so that’s good.”
Unlike the constant action in soccer, Thompson waits on the sidelines for the nod to play.
When she got the call during that first game, “I wasn’t really nervous because it happened super fast, so I didn’t really think about it,” she said.
“It was exciting. I’m supposed to keep my head down when I kick it so I don’t see it, but I looked up and saw it going (over).”
She almost had a chance for a field goal that would have clinched a win for the Eagles.
“Week 1, we were down two points late in the game and getting close to field goal range,” Ferency said.
“Unfortunately we threw an interception before she had an opportunity, but I was prepared to let her kick the game-winner at that point.”
Thompson practices with the football team twice a week and with her travel team twice a week.
“She puts the work in,” Ferency said. “We go through her kicking game, and she conditions and runs with the team afterwards.
“She makes it a point to do everything she can to be a part of the team, and we accept her just like anybody else.”
Pressure in football and soccer is nothing compared to pressure she felt twice before in her young life.
When she was 5 years old, she was home with her newborn sister, Makenna, when their mother suffered a brain aneurysm.
“I called my dad, who was going out of town, and said mom’s not OK,” she said.
Her father came home and her mom, Alyssa, was rushed to the hospital where she was in ICU for 17 days.
“It was remarkable for a 5-year-old,” her dad said. “We had just taught her how to use the phone. She was very heroic.”
Ten years later, it happened again, but this time her father was away on business and could not make it home.
Although she had just a driver’s permit, she loaded her mother and sister into the car and headed to the hospital.
“She remembered that I said earlier that it would be quicker for me to drive her mom to the hospital than wait for an ambulance to find us,” her dad said.
“When she talked with me, I could hear the confidence in her voice. She handled that better than most adults would and she took care of her sister.”
He said that confidence carries over to everything his daughter does, and he is savoring this time with her, especially during her senior year.
“It’s more fun to watch (her play) as a parent, but it’s also very satisfying to help your daughter (as a coach),” he said. “No one can ever take that time back.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Schoolcraft’s Hannah Thompson, left, lines up for an extra point this season. (Middle) Thompson and Schoolcraft football coach Nathan Ferency. (Below) Thompson set the MHSAA single-season record for goals scored as a junior. (Football photo by Jamie Zinsmaster, head shots by Pam Shebest, and soccer photo by Walt Tokarchick.)