By Luke Schrock, WKTV Intern
After facing two straight ranked opponents in the district tournament, the South Christian High School boys soccer team (16-0-1) jumped out to a 2-0 first-half lead and finished a 3-1 win over the Grand Rapids Catholic Central Cougars (8-4-2) in a regional semifinal at South Christian Tuesday, Oct. 27.
The first Sailor goal came from senior Boston Knapp in the 17th minute, from a long shot outside the box off of a loose ball. South Christian dominated the possession game putting almost constant pressure on the Cougars. Eventually, senior Thom DeVries crossed to sophomore Derek Miedema, who was initially blocked before scoring off the rebound.
Sailors head coach Jason Boersma, after the game, said enjoyed the performance of Knapp, his leading scorer this season, as well as the continued work of fellow seniors Jeff Herrema and Thom DeVries.
“Boston’s a workhorse, he always has been,” Boersma said to WKTV. “He is our lead scorer this year. He kind of goes unnoticed because of the big names of Thom DeVries and Jeff (Herrema), but between those three they have 40 goals and about 25 assists.”
Knapp attributes his success to his teammates.
“It’s not necessarily because I’m the best player it’s because I am surrounded by amazing players that can send great through balls to me,” he said. “Overall, the experience with the team that is going to state has been amazing.”
Catholic Central didn’t have an answer for the Sailors until sophomore team captain Alan Lemus-Rodas assisted senior Philippe Tamba to make the score 3-1 in the 58th minute.
Tamba threatened a few times throughout the match, with two missed shots in the first half, a blocked cross and a blocked free kick in the second half. Catholic Central also slowly gained more possession time as the second half progressed but was only able to finish once with the Tamba goal.
The regional final is set for Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. with Dowagiac traveling back to regional host South Christian.
