By Greg Chrapek
WKTV Contributor
greer@wktv.org
The South Christian girls soccer team finished the season as one of the top eight teams in the state in Division 3, but a case can easily be made that the Sailors were actually one of the top two teams.
South Christian’s season came to an end when it dropped a 1-0 match to eventual state champion and long-time rival Unity Cristian in the regional title game at South. The one-goal decision was by far Unity’s closest match in the state tournament as the Crusaders won all of their other state tournament matches by at least a three-goal margin, including the Division 3 state title match where the Crusaders defeated Grosse Ile 3-0 to clinch their second straight state title.
“The regional final game was one of those moments that come about in high school sports,” said South Christian Coach Joel VandeKopple. “Two really good teams competing at the highest level in front of a great crowd. I look back on it and think it was a `coin flip’ type of game, with both teams getting chances and giving everything they had. It is obviously disappointing that we came out on the losing end, but we gave everything we had.”
South Christian reached the regional title match by defeating Three Rivers 5-0 in the regional semifinals. Alexa Boersma led the offense in the semifinals with a pair of goals while Hayden Donker, Katelyn VanderArk and Meredith Helmus added one goal apiece.
The Sailors advanced to the regional after winning the district title where they claimed an 8-0 win against Delton-Kellogg and a 3-0 win against Allegan.
“I was incredibly proud of our girls for winning the district title,” VandeKopple said. “It is always one of the main outcome goals for us, and to do it against a couple of tough opponents meant a lot to us.”
OK Gold and Division 3 District Titles
The Sailors, who finished the season with an 18-3-2 overall record, turned in an outstanding regular season as well that included winning the OK Gold championship for a third consecutive season.
“Winning the conference is another outcome goal for us,” VandeKopple said. “We went through a week in the middle of the year where we dropped some points in the league, which would have made it very easy for our girls to lose sight of the goal. Instead, they kept focusing on the process and ended up winning the conference outright.”
South also posted some noteworthy efforts in non-league games including a 4-3 win against eventual Division 2 state champion Spring Lake in the regular-season finale.
Many highlights this season
“There were many highlights this season,” VandeKopple said. “Among the highlights were winning the OK Gold championship, winning districts, beating a couple of final four teams including a state champion (Spring Lake) in Division 2 and great games with Division 1 schools Rockford and Hudsonville.”
A big part of South Christian’s success this season was their ability to play outstanding team defense while having a potent offense capable of putting up multiple goals in each match. South Christian’s defense posted 15 shutouts this season. Offensively, the Sailors were led by Alexa Boersma who scored 25 goals and added 10 assists. Katelyn VanderArk added 20 goals and 11 assists, while Meredith Helmus totaled 17 goals and seven assists.
Strong senior class
South Christian also received strong contributions from its four-player senior class.
“We only had four seniors this year but they were integral to the team’s success,” VandeKopple said. “Katelyn VanderArk, Maci Burgess, Gabi Burgess and Emerald Hoekwater were our four seniors. They came to practice every day ready to work hard and set the tone for the rest of the girls. They also made sure everyone was on the same page and working in the same direction.”
That direction resulted in the Sailors becoming one of the premier Division 3 teams in the state under VandeKopple who was in his first year as head coach of South Christian.
“We had an unbelievable season this year,” VandeKopple said. “It’s always different when a new coach comes in and having a really young team, but the girls bought into everything the coaches asked of them and we ended up having a fantastic season.”
With a small senior class, the Sailors will have a large group of players returning next season and the outlook for the soccer program is promising.
“We had a fairly young team, so the majority of our players will be returning,” VandeKopple said. “Alexa Boersma and Meredith Helmus will be two returning players up front, while our entire starting backline will return and looking to build on a great defensive season. Olivia Int’hout is one of the best goalies that I’ve seen this year and she returns for her senior season next year.”
