Unity Shuts Down Powers, Adds to Streak
June 18, 2016
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – Hudsonville Unity Christian junior goalkeeper Emily Ponstein had both arms around the championship trophy and clutched it to her chest.
“I think I’m going to take it home with me,” she said.
Ponstein wasn’t going to let go of the trophy, much like she didn’t let go of any ball that was sent in her direction Saturday afternoon at DeMartin Stadium on the campus of Michigan State University.
Ponstein made seven saves as the second-ranked Crusaders defeated No. 1 Flint Powers Catholic 2-0 in the MHSAA Division 3 girls championship game.
It was the third Finals championship in a row for Unity Christian (22-2-1), which has won 10 of the past 12 Division 3 titles. Flint Powers has been the runner-up in four of those championship games and defeated Unity Christian for the title in 2011.
Unity Christian coach Randy Heethuis, in his 27th season leading the Crusaders, heaped a ton of praise on his junior keeper.
“She made at least three or four fantastic saves. She basically stood on her head and kept Powers off the board,” he said. “That was by far her finest game she has had for us, and what a great stage to do it on. It was neat.”
Ponstein was at her best about 10 minutes into the second half when she stopped two shots directly in front of the net. She added a diving save to her left later in the half.
“I saw her coming in, and I was like, ‘No, not today, sorry,’” Ponstein said of the first shot. “The second one was tougher because it was in the air and it was a quick reaction save. The one I had to dive for came in a lot quicker than I expected. It was a great shot, and they are a great team.”
Flint Powers (21-2-1) outshot Unity Christian 16-3 and had the edge on corner kicks 5-1. But Ponstein clearly was the difference.
“I give a lot of credit to that goalie,” Flint Powers coach Art Moody said. “She made some amazing saves. If one of those shots goes in, it’s a different game.”
Ponstein said seeing so many shots actually might have worked in her favor.
“The constant pressure makes you really tired at the end of the game, but I think it keeps me on my toes,” she said. “Since I don’t get a break, I don’t have a chance to lose focus.”
Junior midfielder Alaina VanZalen gave Unity Christian a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute of the first half. She found the net from the left side of the top of the box and beat the Flint Powers goalkeeper on the short side. It was the first shot on goal of the game for the Crusaders.
“I shot it, and I really didn’t think it was going in,” she said. “I was shooting at the short side, and (the keeper) was there but it kind of snuck under her. It was a great surprise.”
It also was something that was part of the game plan.
“I saw a goal that somehow slipped under their keeper,” Heethuis said. “We talked about it at practice and said we want to test this keeper on the low side. I was screened out, so I couldn’t see it, but I saw Alaina shoot, and I just saw it stayed on the ground and went in. How it went in, I’m not exactly sure.”
The game stayed 1-0 until late in the second half. Sophomore Alexis Ponstein, younger sister of the goalie Emily, dribbled more than 50 yards on a breakaway and scored unassisted in the 78th minute to basically put the game away.
Ponstein, the goalie, was emotional talking about her little sister scoring a goal.
“I’m so proud of her,” she said through tears. “She has worked so hard.”
Most of the Unity Christian team actually did not want Alexis Ponstein to take the ball to the net.
“When she got the ball, there was part of us on the sideline saying, ‘Take it to the corner,’ ” Heethuis said. “That’s not in her DNA. She took it and realized she had one player to beat, and she got around her. Give that defender credit. She got a foot on the first shot, but then Lex just cleaned it up and nicely passed the ball into the side netting.
“We’ve been getting on her about hitting the ball too hard sometimes, and she didn’t that time. She took something off it and neatly tucked it into the corner. She must have been listening.”
She might have listened about the hard shots, but she didn’t listen about going to the corner late in the game.
“I was going down the center, and Coach is screaming at me, ‘Go to the corner, waste time, go to the corner, so I picked my head up and the last girl just stabbed, and I went around her and realized it was just me and the goal, so I just went for it,” she said
It was the final game for two-time all-stater Maddy VanDyke, who last year scored the game-winner in double overtime to give Unity Christian the Division 3 title. She was just as happy this year to win even though she did not score.
“We still won it. I don’t care who scores; we win, and it means a lot,” said VanDyke, who will play on the same field next season for Michigan State University. “I have a lot of memories here for high school, and I hope to make a lot more for college.”
VanDyke went out a three-time champion.
“Maddy VanDyke showed what kind of player she is,” Heethuis said. “She got a little dinged up, but I couldn’t be prouder of her.”
Defense has been the key all season for Unity Christian, which had shutouts in 10 of 18 regular-season games. The Crusaders became even stingier in the tournament, posting shutouts in six of seven games, including the title game. They allowed more than one goal just twice and gave up 11 goals total over 25 games.
Ponstein gave up only seven goals playing the majority of the minutes this spring and finished with 15 shutouts.
“We’re disappointed that we didn’t generate more corner kicks, but we just defended and defended,” Heethuis said. “A lot of people could look at this game and say we got outplayed, but the fact of the matter is that we won. We’ll take it. We’re going to enjoy it.
“There are no style points in soccer.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Unity Christian's Maddy VanDyke (14) pushes the ball past a pursuing Flint Powers player Saturday. (Middle) The Crusaders celebrate their ninth championship.
'The Beast' Powering Traverse City St. Francis Into Contenders Conversation
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
April 25, 2025
Her teammates don’t call her by her nickname, but they’re quite aware of why she’s earned it.
Her coaches definitely use the nickname, and fondly.
And opponents … well, they just know she fits the description when on the soccer pitch. They often employ double and triple teams to try to stop her.
Her name is Sidney Peters and she wears number 14 for Traverse City St. Francis. She was an all-state selection last year as a sophomore, leading St. Francis to the Regional.
She’s now well-known as “The Beast.”
“She is just so physically sound and she’s not afraid to go body to body, and she’s not afraid to take over the game and control it just by moving out of the way and not taking on contact,” said her coach Scott Conway. “She always has her head up, always looking to distribute first and then if she has to hammer, she takes it over — that’s what I love about her.”
Despite sitting out one of the Gladiators’ eight games this season to nurse a lingering ankle injury, Peters has seven goals and a team-leading 12 assists.
The Glads got off to a 5-0 start this year before taking a couple of tough losses. They got back on the winning track this week at Kingsley. They’re looking to pick up three wins this weekend at the Big Rapids Invitational as they take on Gaylord, Ludington and the host Cardinals.
“I think it was hard coming off a win against Williamston and then playing two tough teams,” Peters acknowledged. “There was a lot of reflecting lately coming into the game with Kingsley about our performance and what we need to do to get better. We wanted to really control the game a little bit more than we did the last few games.”
Peters took control in the 5-0 win over Kingsley on Wednesday. She dominated possession and worked the passing lanes while picking up assists on four of the Gladiators’ five goals.
That win is helping Peters and her teammates look ahead to this weekend’s tournament and also matches against bigger schools down the road including Midland, Marquette and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep. Now 6-2, the Gladiators have found themselves ranked in the top 10 all season in Division 3, including at No. 7 this week.
“I am really looking forward to those games that are super important,” said Peters. “It’s showing people smalls schools can do it. When we go against big schools — even if it’s a loss — if we put up a good fight and show we can hang, that’s something to be proud of, I think.”
Peters plays competitive travel soccer in the fall and trains all winter. She’s always striving to grow her game and improve. Among her strengths, Conway noted, is her ability to maintain composure under pressure while constantly striving for success.
She was stoic and calm growing up, with high levels of mental strength and toughness. Her family and coaches believe that those traits, paired with her physical strength and aggressiveness, make Peters a perfect fit for the sport.
“Sid is playing out of her mind,” said Conway, now in his sixth year at the helm for St. Francis. “She’s my top player. She’s already coming out strong with her stats this year, and I expect them to improve.”
Becoming “The Beast,” so the story goes, happened during her youth soccer days. Her spectacular freshmen year led Conway to go public with the name. And while her teammates don’t say the name, they do acknowledge it with their actions in practice.
“They definitely don’t like to go up against me in practice,” Peters said of her teammates. “They’re like, ‘She’s going to push me over’ or whatever, but I’ve never heard it (the nickname).”
Among her favorites aspects of soccer is the physical play, Peters admitted. It started in her center back playing days in youth soccer. She began receiving attention from opponents as she was named all-state honorable mention as a freshman.
“Coming from my freshman year where I wasn’t known to my sophomore year where people start to know you playing you two times per season, and it’s like, ‘Let’s put a girl on her and try to mark her’ and after that it started to be ‘try to take her out, let’s foul her,’” Peters said. “It’s part of the game — when two or three people are going at you, it is going to get physical.”
Peters isn’t the only reason the Gladiators are looking forward to great things this season. They are coming off an 18-2-1 finish a year ago and are led in goals scored by junior Riley Collins with 12, while senior Lillian David has added 11.
And they have a strong defense led by center back Grace Rowe and stingy goaltender Paisleigh Upshaw, who was second-team all-state as a sophomore. The Glads have allowed only six goals this spring.
“We’ve got some of the top players in the state, especially D3,” Conway said. “I am very blessed to have them part of the St. Francis program.”
After St. Francis won its first Lake Michigan Conference girls soccer title last year, the league was disbanded. The Gladiators are playing as independents this spring.
That has the Glads focused solely on a run through the Regional. They’ll have to repeat as District champions first, heading to the Hart District where they could face Clare, Kingsley, Manistee, Reed City, Remus Chippewa Hills and the host Pirates.
“The expectation is for us to continue to develop and get better as a squad,” Conway said. “And then make a nice postseason run, and I truly believe with this group of girls we shouldn't have any problem doing that.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City St. Francis’ Sidney Peters (14) controls possession against Kingsley. (Middle) Peters and teammate Reese Muma (4) exchange high-fives during their game against Williamston. (Photos by Julie English.)