MICHIGAN GIRLS SOCCER: Unity Christian’s dominating effort results in record 13th state title and a 7-0 victory over New Boston Huron
- Dan Stickradt
- Jun 14
- 6 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
Crusaders cap three-year run with 18 straight postseason shutouts
EAST LANSING, Mich. – In all of its great seasons put together during the last quarter century-plus, Hudsonville Unity Christian had plenty of more to prove Friday afternoon.
The Crusaders, ranked No. 1 in Division 2 all season – in its first year playing up in that higher division – finished the campaign on top with an exclamation point.
Unity Christian captured its 13th state championship – an MHSAA state record for girls soccer – and did so in dominating fashion with a resounding 7-0 shutout of fourth-ranked New Boston Huron at Michigan State University’s DeMartin Stadium.
“When we had our parent meeting and people kept asking me (about playing up in Division 2), I was thinking like we don’t care about what division we're in. We just going to go out and play soccer,” said 36th-year head coach Randy Heethuis, the mastermind behind one of the greatest high school soccer programs in the state if not nationally. “On any given day, I think we’re good enough that we can compete with anybody. We showed that game in and game out from the very first game of the season and certainly in the state tournament.
“That being said, we’re extremely thankful and blessed beyond belief,” continued Heethuis. “(In the tournament) we had two 1-0 games along the way, you know, and one bounce here or there that could have been a different story. There are a lot of really good teams in Division 2. I don't think this final score in any way, shape or form was indicative to that (New Boston Huron) team and the season that they had. I think they just ran into a buzzsaw in the second half.”
The 13th state crown ironically came on Friday the 13th – and the Crusaders were every bit as scary as advertised, as they dominated in all facets of the game.
The win not only finished a rare undefeated season for anybody and surpassed Madison Heights Bishop Foley’s 12 state titles in the sport, but capped a 22-0-2 campaign with a .917 win percentage.
The win also snapped first-time state finalist New Boston Huron’s state-leading 21-game win streak.
Since forming a girls soccer program back in 1990, Unity Christian has built up to becoming one of the staples in high school soccer not just in Michigan but in the Midwest and country with a consistent pipeline of high-end club soccer talent and multi-sport athletes wanting to compete for the school. The Crusaders made their 17th appearance in the state finals Friday where they are now 13-4, and reached at least the state semifinals 21 times. The program has also been to at least the Elite Eight 24 times – and all of those were from 1998 through this season.
After losing in the Division 3 state finals to Williamston (3-2) back in 2022, the Crusaders have now won 18 straight postseason games all while not conceding a goal. In that loss to Williamston, Unity held a lead late in regulation before succumbing in double-overtime. The Crusaders did not lose since that game three years ago.
In their last three state tournament runs, the Crusaders own an 87-0 scoring edge with the aforementioned 18 straight clean sheets. Throwing in the 2022 D-3 state runner-up team that finished 5-1 in the postseason, Unity Christian outscored the opposition a very respectable 21-5 that year with four shutouts.
That’s a 108-5 edge on the scoreboard over 24 state tournament games in four seasons.
Additionally over four seasons, Unity Christian amassed a 86-4-6 record in that span and racked up 58 shutouts and a 435-40 scoring edge and a 23-1 postseason record from 2022-25 to boot. The program’s win percentage in that period is .896.
It marked Unity’s fourth straight state finals appearance and third straight title, and all of those were previously in Division 3. In fact, from first reaching the state semifinals back in 1998, all of the school’s previous deep tournament runs were in Division 3. Enrollment-wise, Unity Christian and fellow long-time powerhouse Grand Rapids South Christian have seen some enrollment spikes and both were moved up to Division 2 last summer.
With relentless high pressure all over the field and attacking in waves, Unity Christian came out like a team on a mission and collected its first shot of the game less than 45 seconds into the match. The Crusaders did not take their foot off the pedal whatsoever for the whole 80 minutes.
Unity Christian outshot New Boston Huron (21-2-1) 15-1 in the first half, but had only three shots on goal.
The Chiefs almost had an opportunity to go up 1-0 but Rylie Cassette breaking away was snuffed out by Unity junior marking back who came gave chase and her slide tackle from the right side actually blocked a shot by Cassette at the top of the box.
New Boston Huron third-year coach Matt Lividini team was hoping to get into halftime with a 0-0 stalemate, but finally succumbed to the constant pressure.
“The challenge wasn’t so much for us coming in for the first time. The girls were ready for that. It was the 7v-7 matchup with them playing the 5-2 and us playing a 5-2 it almost shook out for the first half,” said Lividini. “We were hoping to get into halftime 0-0. They were obviously on the attack and had the percentage minutes in the first half. I wanted to get the re-set in the second half and that corner and header with three minutes left before the end of the half kind of threw everything off. Coming out for the second half, the girls were off a bit and something went wrong and then (they came out and scored a bunch of goals).”
That defensive play on the breakaway even ignited Unity Christian with some additional energy.
The Crusaders, who ended up with 31-2 shots advantage in the game, did not even allow a single shot on goal or a single cornerkick in the entire game to showcase their stellar defense on the year. Unity finishes with 20 clean sheets, four goals allowed in 24 games and one of the very best goals-against-averages in state history at 0.17.
The offense was not too shabby, either.
Unity Christian finally got on the board with 3:19 to play when Miss Soccer favorite and Michigan State signee Ava Lutke sent in a bending cornerkick near the far post and junior forward Tessa Ponstein was there to head it home in traffic for a 1-0 lead at the half.
Lutke finished her final game with a goal and two assists.
“It’s amazing to be able to play for Randy and with this group of girls we’re like a group of sisters. We just play together as a team and work hard. We battle for every ball and we play every games with no regrets and it could be our last and it could. It’s fun to play with them and we all want it.”
Unity came out and netted a second goal with 28:37 left in the game when Ponstein’s free kick from 23 yards out was sent into the box and junior midfielder Addison Pel’s volley redirected the ball into the back of the net for the 2-0 lead.
Huron suffered another blow when junior Ava Banko picked up her second yellow card and a soft red card with 18:47 remaining, forcing the Chiefs to play down a player for a remainder of the game.
Lutke, who finished her senior season with 29 goals and 30 assists, got her only goal of the game with her header from seven yards out when she raced onto the ball after junior Tessa Nagelkirk sent a chip pass into the box with 18:32 still to play.
Then the floodgates opened.
Unity Christian ended up rotating its entire team in and out of the lineup but still tacked on four more goals.
Kyla Kobrzycki (Ponstein assist), freshman Olivia Walters (Kobrzycki assist), sophomore Myla Obande (Lutke assist) and freshman Lauren Prins (Marlie Moelker helper off a cornerkick) capped the scoring for Unity Christian.
The only other shot Huron could muster came with 27:58 left but that attempt was wide of the goal.
Unity Christian senior Kennidee Crump and junior Payton Barendsen split the shutout but neither had to record an official save in the match.
Beyond all of the wins and state record, what pleases Heethuis so much is all of the consistency and the fact that his players are so team oriented and driven.
“That’s what's so amazing about it is all of the consistency, especially defensively,” said Heethuis. “We came out and didn't allow a single goal in the tournament for three straight years. That’s what I like so much about our teams (during the streak). They all want to do their part and want to win and no one ever takes time off. I know we wouldn’t be here without all of the great defensive play this year and over the years.”
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