November 3, 2007

by John Schroder

TROY, MI - There was a familiar ring to how Muskegon Western Michigan Christian earned a 2-1 victory over Auburn Hills Oakland Christian in the Division 4 boys soccer state championship at Troy Athens on November 3.

The No.1 ranked Warriors (22-1) leading goal scorer Eric Prins turned playmaker and set up two second half goals and MWMC held off Oakland Christian’s ferocious comeback attempt to propel MWMC to its fifth state championship, but first for third year coach Dave Hulings. The Warriors lost in last year’s final, 3-1, to Allen Park Inter-City Baptist.

Oakland Christian (21-6) made its first appearance and the Warriors made their 11^th trip. MWMC won other titles in 1988 (co-champs), 1995, 2003 and 2004.

“I know how they feel. It’s a bitter feeling,” Hulings said. “For a year that sticks with you. They outplayed us in the first half. They cut off our passing lanes. We weren’t moving and when we were moving, they were moving faster.”

The Warriors were able to contain Jacob Stanko, who has nearly 40 gaols on his junior year resume, for most of the game

Both teams had good scoring opportunities in the first half,  but Ben Visser for Western and Kramer Everett for Oakland responded with diving saves to keep the goose eggs on the scoreboard until Stanko  put Oakland ahead 1-0. Stanko was finally able to shake the triple-team coverage and ripped a left-footer inside the right post from 15 yards out with 11:04 left in the first half. Dan Lee set up the tally with a nice move and pass from the right corner.

Muskegon had a 10-3 edge in shots in the first half and continued to carry most of the play in the second half, but Oakland was poised to strike at any time.

Eight minutes and 53 seconds after the intermission Muskegon evened the score when Prins snagged a bad clearing pass and set up Daniel Rosema’s goal. The teams again exchanged good scoring chances without a reward before Charlie VanRees notched his 16^th goal of the season, with strangely enough, 11:04 left in regulation time. VanRees had also sparked the Warriors in a 5-1 semifinal win over Suttons Bay with two goals.

“Eric’s a great playmaker. There was some sort of cross and Eric flicked it over to me and I had an open net to shoot at and I put the goal into the upper 90,” VanRees said of his championship-clinching tally. “We started out a little nervous and not playing our game. Then we knew we had to step it up and toughen up. We then relaxed more and started to dominate.”

Hulings was worried about how Stanko could turn a game around with his slick moves and rocket shot. “We were very nervous about Stanko, he’s a great player. The way to beat Stanko was for us to keep the ball as much as we did,” Hulings said. “That’s a great team. Hats off to them. We’re happy to be on this side of it today.”

 After Prins misfired on a breakaway with 7:06 left that would have sealed the win, Oakland Christian’s frustration began to show as the Lancers unraveled with four yellow cards and a red card. OC coach Dick Harding was booked and he was not pleased with the officiating the led to his top scorers sitting on the bench as the final horn sounded.

“I thought all the calls were completely one sided. Don’t take anything away from them (Muskegon), they’re a great team. But I hate it when adults interfere with the game and that’s what happened today,” Harding lamented. “Adults took our best players out of the game. What can I say? We didn’t get one call the whole game. It’s disappointing.”

Western outshoot Oakland, 20-7, in the game and Visser finished with eight saves and Everett made two stops in each half.