Ramping Up for Prepapalooza 2014

EAST LANSING – The MHSAA girls soccer record book needs some editing.

Hudsonville Unity Christian won its 13th Final on Friday at DeMartin Soccer Complex on the campus of Michigan State University, clinching with a 7-0 defeat of New Boston Huron.

The win broke Unity Christian’s tie with Madison Heights Bishop Foley for the most girls soccer titles of any program in the state, as each had 12 championships prior to Friday.

“I think the thing I am probably the proudest of for the kids is the consistency,” 36-year Unity Christian coach Randy Heethuis said. “They know if they do little things, it allows big things to happen. That is something that we have been preaching now for 20-plus years. We get kids who buy-in to the program and want to be part of it, and just want to end their season (at the Final), quite frankly.”

Appearing in its 17th MHSAA Final, which tied Bishop Foley for most-ever by a program, the Crusaders also became the 19th team in MHSAA history to finish a season undefeated (22-0-2).

While Friday marked the third consecutive championship, it was the first time Unity Christian claimed the top prize in Division 2. The previous 12 titles were all in Division 3.

“It’s not something that we really talked about. At the beginning of the year, we had some parents asking what that was going to be like. We don’t care what division we are in, we just want to come out and play soccer,” Heethuis said. “On any given day I think we are good enough that we can compete with anybody. We showed that day-in and day-out over the course of the season.”

Unity Christian put on the pressure from the start of the match. It dominated possession, resulting in 19 first-half shots. However, the Crusaders were able to put only four on goal.

The opening score finally came for the Crusaders in the 37th minute of play when senior Ava Lutke took a corner kick and it got through to the head of junior Tessa Ponstein, who found the net for her 15th goal of the season, making it 1-0.

“We had the corner and (Lutke) played a perfect ball to me, and it just came straight to my head,” Ponstein said. “I just knew to hit it where you want it to go … just get it in that goal. It was a great feeling.”

Ponstein got the assist on the second Unity Christian goal. Off a free kick, she found the head of junior Addison Pell, whose attempt trickled past the New Boston Huron defense for a score with 28 minutes to play. That made it 2-0 for the Crusaders.

The Chiefs would find themselves down a player after a second yellow card midway through the half, which sparked the five-goal rally during the final stretch of the game.

Lutke got a goal of her own with 18 minutes to play as she put in a header off a header pass from junior Tessa Nagelkirk. It was Lutke’s 29th goal of the season. That would be the first of three goals for the Crusaders over a span of 2:33.

“I saw the ball bobbling around and as I saw Tessa Nagelkirk coming into to get the header, I knew there was a chance of it getting in behind, so I just saw the opportunity to run in on it,” Lutke said. “It was there, so I got my head on it and put it past the keeper.”

Ponstein passed up a look at the net for herself to feed sophomore Kyla Kobrzycki for a goal with 16:46 remaining to make it 4-0.

“She’s been working hard too, and I felt like she had a better angle than I did,” Ponstein said of feeding Kobrzycki. “She’s earned (the goal).”

Freshman Olivia Walters then had a shot attempt hit the crossbar, only to find her foot for a putback score with 15:59 on the clock.

Sophomore Myla Obande and freshman Lauren Prins also found the net for the Crusaders during the closing minutes of the contest.

The scoring overshadowed another dominant defensive performance for Unity Christian, led by juniors Avery Dekker and Ava Steen, as well as sophomore Karli Rose. They allowed keepers Payton Barendsen and Kennidee Crump to earn a shutout without making a save.

Friday’s shutout marked the 18th consecutive postseason shutout for the Crusaders, as they outscored opponents in the playoffs this year, 22-0.

“That’s one of the things I am most proud about,” Heethuis said of the postseason shutouts. “Obviously, stats and offense get a lot of the accolades, but you go 18 tournament games without giving up a goal, that doesn’t just happen by chance. That’s the equivalent of going an entire season and not giving up a goal. That’s something we are extremely proud about.”

New Boston Huron junior keeper Brooklyn Burke led the Chiefs with nine saves, as she made some athletic plays to keep the Crusaders from scoring more. Altogether, Unity Christian finished with 36 shots in the match.

The Chiefs lost just two times in 2025, both to unbeaten teams in Unity Christian and Division 1 finalist Saline. The 21-2-1 final record and first Finals appearance is a big step for a program that was only 5-7-3 in 2023.

“I’ve been wanting for a while to have the girls side of our program (get to this level). We’ve always had the talent on this side. Everything has been going really well,” New Boston Huron coach Matt Lividini said. “Obviously, today didn’t go in our favor. There’s going to be a winner and there’s going to be a loser. Super excited with what we’ve done. Just three losses in the last two years.”

This marks the third time that Unity Christian has had a run of three consecutive MHSAA championships. The Crusaders won six straight from 2005-10, three straight from 2014-16, and now the 2023-25 run.

Heethuis upped his career win total to 664 games, 135 ahead of the field for most in MHSAA history.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Hudsonville Unity Christian's Ava Lutke (15), Tessa Ponstein (22) and Olivia Walters (11) celebrate during their Division 3 championship win Saturday. (Middle) New Boston Huron's Rylie Cassette (8) winds up to send the ball downfield with Unity Christian's Ava Steen (5) in pursuit. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)