The Zeeland West Girls’ Varsity Soccer team lost to East in a conference game by a score of 0-1 on April 28.

Their Head Coach, Ben Hondorp, said, “We defended well for most of the match, putting out fires and managing the pressure put on by East, but we struggled to find any sort of rhythm and lacked connectivity on offense. East is a good team., They were the more aggressive, assertive, and decisive team and deserved the win. We exerted a lot of energy in the first half, and kind of ran out of gas in the second half. We did generate a couple of really good chances, just could not find the back of the net. I’m proud of our team's effort, just fell short.”

There were no goals for the girls of Zeeland West, but they fought hard, especially with a couple of their key players out due to injury. They fought hard and just didn't get the outcome they needed.

Jr. Jaedyn Sharda said, “This game didn’t go as we planned. We played as hard as we could and played like we wanted it. East is a hard team, and they played their hearts out. I hope we can face them again and prove to ourselves, not in a tie or a loss, but a win. I'm proud of our team, we all just wish it ended differently.” 

The Zeeland West Girls’ Varsity Soccer team beat Holland in a conference game by a score of 3-0 on April 25. 

Their Head Coach, Ben Hondorp, said, “We played really well on Friday against Holland. One of our better overall matches of the season. We possessed well in the midfield and created several really good chances. We were patient and poised with our attack, pushing numbers forward and creating combinations that made Holland scramble. Defensively, we were solid and didn’t really give up many quality looks at goal. Overall, I’m really happy with our performance.”

Sr. Jordyn Klaasen scored twice, once in the first half and the other in the second half, and Sr. Madelyn VanDort scored once against the Dutch of Holland.

Sr. Madelyn VanDort said, “Our game on Friday against Holland was very memorable! The game was going great, and we had been working hard as a team. My goal came as a result of  my teammate Jordyn Klassen giving me an awesome pass. This goal will be memorable because once I made it, I was surrounded by my team.”

The Zeeland West Girls’ Soccer team beat Spring Lake in a conference game with a score of 2-1 on April 18. 

Their Head Coach, Ben Hondorp, said, “The Spring Lake match was a good test for us against a team that won a state title last year. Defensively, we held our own against one of the best teams in West Michigan, limiting chances and disrupting their rhythm. Offensively, we capitalized on two key opportunities in key moments of the match to secure the win. Jordyn Klaasen hit a laser that went through the fingertips of their keeper before finding the side netting, giving us a 1-0 lead. Spring Lake responded with a goal of their own when we failed to clear a ball out of the box. But our resiliency and persistence paid off as a clever combination play involving a string of 6-8 passes broke Alexis Glennie free behind their back line. She scored the game winner with less than 3 minutes remaining in the match. A solid performance by us against a really good team. Very happy with our energy, effort, and resilience tonight.”

Sr. Jordyn Klaasen scored in the first half and Frosh. Alexis Glennie scored in the second half.

Frosh. Alexis Glennie said “I definitely thought we could have played better than we did. We still pulled out the win, but our passing and communication were not on point with each other. Our defense was good, we just couldn't connect the passes we needed to make, to get it up and score. I think the last play for me to score the game-winning goal wouldn't have happened if we didn't do the passing and communication we did on that play. The fact that we played as a team during that whole game and didn't get down on each other when others made mistakes helped a lot with the whole game. I'm happy we pulled out the win but we definitely thought we could play better.”

The Zeeland West Varsity Girls' Soccer team beat Hamilton in a conference game 4-0 on April 16. 

Their Head Coach, Ben Hondorp, said,”In the Hamilton match, we stressed the importance of getting off to a fast start and remaining organized and compact defensively. We scored 2 goals in the first five minutes and added another pair to make it 4-0 at half, really taking advantage and capitalizing on our opportunities. We have struggled to score, so seeing the ball find the back of the net early boosted our confidence and allowed us to play more aggressively. They made defensive adjustments in the second half, which prevented us from scoring again. Still, our midfield and defensive presence made it difficult for Hamilton to do much of anything offensively.”

Sr. Jordyn Klaasen scored at the start of the game alongside Sr. Alison Ortiz, who scored a goal, and so did Jr. Brooklyn Haight and Fr. Alexis Glennie.

 Sr. Jordyn Klaasen said “We won 4-0! We played well as a team and did a good job of taking advantage of our opportunities and finding the back of the net!”

Despite struggling offensively throughout much of the match against Holland Christian Monday night, the Dux varsity soccer team put in another strong defensive effort to earn a hard fought 0-0 draw. Holland Christian had the run of play most of the night, but were not able to generate many quality chances against the strong back line of Georgia Kuyers, Ellery Koomen, Evie Elenbaas, Addysen Miller and Madelyn VanDort - anchored by Izzy Terpstra. “Honestly, we really struggled to get anything going offensively from the start. We were not overly assertive and played tentative in the first half. Credit the physicality and aggressiveness Holland Christian brought tonight, they put us on our heels and kept us pinned in our defensive third for long stretches of the match. We did have short stretches where we were able to connect a bit through the middle, but we were unable to make the right decision on the last pass. We never really felt comfortable all night, despite playing with decent energy. The attention to detail just was not there, we made too many mistakes in trying to build some momentum. Despite these struggles, I was proud of or effort and resiliency considering the amount of pressure we were under.”

The draw brings the Dux to 2-1-2 on the season, and 2-0-2 in the OK Black. 

After a lengthy weather dely, the Dux varsity soccer team took the field at home against defending state champ Spring Lake. After a scoreless first half, Jordyn Klaasen struck first for the Dux. After driving down the left side of the ball, she cut the ball back inside before sending a laser of a shot that went over the outstretched fingertips of the keeper and found the far side netting, giving the home team a 1-0 lead. Spring Lake would get an equalizer after a failed clearance led to a scramble in front of Izzy Terpstra that somehow found the back of the net. With less than 3 minutes remaining, Alexis Glennie scored the game winner after a nice combination involving several Dux players. Glennie took the slotted ball in behind the back line of the Spring Lake defense before beating the keeper for the 2-1 win.

“Spring Lake is a very good team. We managed and controlled the midfield in the first half and defended well throughout. We were able to disrupt their rhythm through the midfield, and matched their physicality in the the defensive third. We did a decent job maintaining possession for the first half and were able to capitalize on the two chances we had in the second half. Our back four did a great job limiting quality chances and Izzy Terpstra played well again between the pipes. Georgia Kuyers stepped up and made a save in net when Terpstra went out with an injury in the second half. A great battle against two good defensive teams.”

The Zeeland West girls varsity soccer team got off to a fast start, scoring 2 goals in the opening five minutes against Hamilton Wednesday night. Jordyn Klaasen opened the scoring by driving in behind the back line of Hamilton before firing a ball back across the goal. The ball took a deflection off of a defender before finding the back of the net. Less than 2 minutes later, Alexis Glennie got in behind on the left side and slotted a great ball back across the face of goal to Brooklyn Haight, who calmly passed the ball into an empty net. The Dux would add two more insurance goals before the half, cruising to a 4-0 win. Ali Ortiz scored after receiving a short layoff pass from Glennie. Myah Kemppainen played a nice ball over the top to Glennie, who collected it nicely before calmly slotting the ball to the far post.

“We talked about the importance of getting off to a fast start against them to gain some confidence. Those first two early goals really helped us settle in and be able to dictate play throughout the first half. We played smart and simple, and were decisive and intentional in the final third, an area where we have struggled a bit early in the season. It was nice to have a cushion heading into the second half. Defensively, we played with poise, patience and purpose. We did a nice job of matching their physicality and really didn't concede many quality opportunities tonight. Izzy Terpstra earned her second shutout of the season, behind solid defensive play by Georgia Kuyers, Ellery Koomen, Evie Elenbaas, Madelyn VanDort and Addysen Miller. Our midfield covered and distributed really well, and our wings kept their back line under pressure all match. Great team win!”

The Dux are 1-1-1 on the season (1-0-1 in OK Black) and return to action on Friday when they host Spring Lake.