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 14^th 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 15^th MHSAA Final, seeking their 10^th 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 23^rd 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.”

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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.)