Hudsonville Unity Christian dominates Grosse Ile in Division 3 girls soccer final, 3-0

Hudsonville Unity Christian avenged its 2022 loss in the final, taking home the Michigan high school girls soccer Division 3 championship in a 3-0 win Friday in East Lansing.

The Crusaders started strong against the Grosse Ile Red Devils and never let up, controlling the pace of play throughout the entire 80 minutes.

"I can't be prouder of these girls," Unity Christian head coach Randy Heethuis said. "This group of seniors, three years ago, we lost in penalty kicks in the semifinals; last year, we lost in the final; and then for them to be able to cap it off this year and come away with the title, like I said, I couldn't be more proud of this group of girls."

Unity Christian maintained possession for nearly all of the first half, but the Grosse Ile defense held tough. Goalkeeper Cailey O'Farrell delivered save after save on some tough shots.

Despite the many opportunities, Unity Christian was unable to capitalize, with attempts either sailing wide or scooped up by O'Farrell. Although O'Farrell managed to keep the match scoreless, the Red Devils' offense needed to get going.

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Grosse Ile found its way to the other end of the field and created its biggest scoring opportunity on a free kick from defender Madelynn McNeil that sailed just a little too far to the right. Unity Christian regained possession and midfielder Ava Landstra went to work. She faked out a defender before getting a shot off that her teammates couldn't tap in; O'Farrell came up with yet another save.

The scoring drought finally let up with just under three minutes to play in the first half. Midfielder Emily Timmer got good position before passing it off to forward Stella DeSmit who found the top left corner to put Unity Christian up, 1-0, heading into halftime.

"Grosse Ile had us a little rattled in the first half," Heethuis said. "That first half was played exactly like Grosse Ile wanted to play the game and we were flustered a little bit. It was kind of like, 'Is that goal ever going to come?' "

Unity Christian picked up right where they left off to begin the second half, maintaining offensive pressure and accounting for nearly all the shots. Midfielder Ava Ludtke was an asset on offense, consistently maneuvering her way to the goal before either passing it off to a teammate or taking the shot herself.

Heethuis credited the team's depth as an asset as the game winded down.

" A luxury that we had is that the team is really deep," Heethuis said. "I mean, there are kids on this team that would start for a lot of other teams, and you know what, they just all bought into their roles and did what was asked of them. When they come together like that, magic happens."

The Crusaders added to their lead on a goal from defender Brianna Rose, who got one past a diving O'Farrell. Forward Jenna Schreiber added an insurance goal with just under 25 minutes to play on a slow roller timed just right to find its way to the back of the net.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hudsonville Unity Christian dominates Grosse Ile in D-3 soccer final