SN 6-3-2023

The Sun and News, Saturday, June 3, 2023/ Page 15

Influx of freshmen helps TK program to district title

Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
For a few varsity stal-
warts it was a long time
coming, but the Trojans are
mostly ahead of schedule.
The Thornapple Kellogg
varsity girls’ soccer team,
with two seniors and nine
freshmen on the roster, cap-
tured the program’s first dis-
trict championship since
2018 by scoring a 1-0 win
over Hamilton in the
MHSAA Division 2 District
Final inside Bob White
Stadium in Middleville
Thursday.
“I think that it could have
been done years ago, but I
think this team has been
strong since the beginning
of the season and I knew we
were going to do big things
since the beginning of the
season,” Trojan junior mid-
fielder Emma Schut said
after the victory. “The hard
work we have put in at prac-
tice, and just with all the
freshmen coming in I think
it has been an amazing expe-
rience and we worked hard
and we deserved this.”
Freshman Tealy Cross
scored the game’s only goal.
The Trojans, now 15-4-1,
dominated possession
throughout the first half, and
really most of the ballgame,
against the Hawkeyes. It
wasn’t until the 25th minute
that Cross was able to break
free for the shot that beat the
Hamilton keeper. The ball
came to Cross on a long
clear from sophomore cen-
ter back Emma Geukes.
“I was just trying to get
the ball out of there,”
Geukes said. “It was crazy
that she scored off of that. I
was not expecting that at
all.”
Cross watched her shot
hit the back of the net and
then turned back towards
the center of the field and
found senior Peyton Pratt
coming her way. She leapt
into Pratt’s arms and they
spun together until they
were surrounded by their
teammates.
Geukes was joined in a

reworked Trojan defense

this season by freshman

center back Ella Fischer,

freshman Natalie Borrink

and senior Anna Davis on

the outside and freshman

goalkeeper McKenna

Hoebeke. How that group

would come together was

one of the big questions for

the Trojans entering this

season, and the TK program

got a big answer with the

shutout in the district cham-

pionship game.

“That was kind of scary

with our whole back line

being all freshmen, but they

have adjusted so well and

they have become so

strong,” Schut said. “It has

just been amazing to see

everyone grow so much.”

“It was pretty hard at

first,” Geukes said. “We

don’t talk as much as we

should, but over the season

we have started communi-

cating better and working

better together.”

She said Hoebeke is the

best communicator of the

group, and always has

encouraging words for her

back line.

“Both of us have spoken a

lot this season with them

about being aggressive,” TK

co-head coach Ben Sleeman

said of himself and coach

David Wood, who are lead-

ing the girls’ program in

Middleville for the first time

this spring. “They’re so

young. One of them has

never played center back

and one of them is a fresh-

man. Their biggest thing is

being timid and not wanting

the ball. Tonight, [Hamilton]

had a good player up front,

and we spoke to both

[Geukes and Fischer] about

being a bit more aggressive

and trying to limit the

amount of chances she got

on the ball and they did a

good job of that.”

The Hawkeyes, who

closed the season at 10-7-1,

got through the Trojan

defense to put a couple of

solid balls at the net in a

flurry ten minutes into the

second half, but Hoebeke

was up to the task and got a

little help from one of her

posts.

The Trojans will head to

Vicksburg next week

Wednesday, June 7, for their

MHSAA Division 2

Regional Semifinal ball-

game against the winner of

this week’s district final

hosted by Stevensville

Lakeshore.

The TK ladies will play

their next tournament game

without their top scorer,

junior attacker Holly

Velting, who received a red

card with about ten minutes

to play in the district final.

She picked up a yellow card

as the official determined

she’d had a little too much

contact with the Hamilton

goalkeeper on more than

one occasion. She picked up

her second yellow, an auto-

matic red, with a hard tackle

late in the second half.

“At the end of the day, we

talked about being a team

and having to defend for the

last 20 minutes or whatever

it might be,” Sleeman said.

“Then when we lose Holly

and everything goes into a

little more of a panic mode

and trying to maintain our

emotions and keeping every-

thing in check.

“We lose our fastest play-

er on the field and we lose

our leading goalscorer, but

at that point [in the district

final] it is kind of is all right

because we needed to

defend. Even though you

lose a number, you drop

everybody back a level and

they look to pick up the

slack. Tealy and Paige

[Abshagen] we ask them to

do a lot when we lose our

striker, where they are try-

ing to press high and then

get back and even come cen-

trally a little bit. They did a

lot of work on the outside.”

Schut was proud of the

effort she saw Velting giv-

ing throughout the match.

“She worked so hard and

that just shows how hard we

were working, for a girl to

get a red card,” Schut said.

“She was winning every

ball. I just think, if you get a

red card you’re working

hard. I think that is just awe-

some. Just the way we

fought until that last whistle,

I just think that was amaz-

ing.”

The Trojans earned their

place in the district final

with a 3-1 win over Zeeland

East and a 5-1 win over

Zeeland West in the first

two rounds of the district

tournament in Middleville.

While the Trojans domi-

nated from the start Friday,

May 26, against the Zeeland

West Dux and were in con-

trol of much of Tuesday’s

district semifinal against the

Chix, Zeeland East had a

1-0 lead at the half before

the Trojans surged for the

win in the semifinal.

“[Co-head coach] David

[Wood] and I were really

proud of the girls’ effort and

energy in the second half of

a must-win game,” Sleeman

said after his team’s 3-1 win

over Zeeland East in

Middleville Tuesday.

“Being behind and playing

well was frustrating, but

they responded well to our

talk at halftime and showed

that they were the better

team. We are definitely

excited and ready for

Thursday’s final against

Hamilton and feel that we

are in a good place to win if

we play well and do the

things that we’ve been doing

all season that have made us

successful.”

Velting scored two goals

20 seconds apart to pull the

Trojans even and then give

them the lead early on in the

second half.

The Trojans continued to

create chances through the

second 40 minutes and

eventually got a third goal

from Abashagen to seal the

win.

“It pretty much mirrored

the game when we played

them a few weeks ago at

their place,” Sleeman said.

“I felt that we really domi-

nated the first 15-20 minutes

and created some good

chances to score but just

couldn’t find the back of the

net. Then, with about eight

minutes left in the first half

we failed to win a punt from

their keeper and allowed

one of their attacking play-

ers to have an uncontested

look at goal - which she took

well.

“Not long after that

McKenna Hoebeke made a

fantastic double save on a

free kick to keep us from

being down two goals.”

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Water Bourne System

The Thornapple Kellogg varsity girts’ soccer team celebrates it’s MHSAA Division 2 District Championship

after a 1-0 win over Hamilton on the turf inside Bob White Stadium in Middleville Thursday evening. (Photo by

Brett Bremer)

Thornapple Kellogg senior Peyton Pratt accepts

her district championship medal from high school

athletic director Brian Hammer Thursday. (Photo by

Brett Bremer)

See DISTRICT, page 16