By Justin Haggerty
LocalSportsJournal.com

FRUITPORT – It’s not unusual for Fruitport to have a very good boys soccer team.

That’s certainly the case again this year, with the Trojans off to an impressive 5-1-1 start, following Thursday’s 8-0 victory over Fremont in the Lakes 8 Conference opener for both schools.LSJ Logo incert

But Coach Greg Kobylak is particularly impressed with this year’s squad, which seems to be focused on improving every time it takes the field.

Fruitport's Austin Evans brings the back back to midfield with Fremont's No. 12 Parker Jamieson pursuing. Photo/Jason Goorman

Fruitport’s Austin Evans brings the back back to midfield with Fremont’s No. 12 Parker Jamieson pursuing. Photo/Jason Goorman

“What I’m really impressed by the mentality of this team is that we keep pushing ourselves to get better and better, regardless of the opponent we’re playing against,” Kobylak said. “Sometimes a less mature team might play slower against slower opponents.

“We really set the goal of using this to make sure we get better instead of staying stagnant.”

One player who’s a big part of that trend is Noah Hendricks, who scored three goals against Fremont and reached the 50-goal career mark in the game.

“He’s doing great things, that’s a nice little milestone,” Kobylak said of Hendricks.

The Trojans’ toughest test thus far will come Saturday when Grand Rapids Covenant Christian, ranked No. 2 statewide in Division 4, visits Fruitport.

“I told the guys that we’re good, but we haven’t beaten a top-notch team yet,” Kobylak said. “We’ve got five wins, and they’ve all been against teams that are good, but not top-notch.

Lucas Leslie drives past Fremont's No. 9 Chase Cygeirt. Photo/Jason Goorman

Lucas Leslie drives past Fremont’s No. 9 Chase Cygeirt. Photo/Jason Goorman

“Saturday is when I’ll judge how good this team is. We play Covenant Christian and they are ranked in the state in Division 4 and they are a defending state finalist, so it will be a good test for both teams.”

The Trojans opened the scoring just 14 seconds into the game when Hendricks found the Packer net.

Sophomore Zack Shane scored the next two goals for Fruitport, and added a third in the second half, to finish with three of his own.

Fruitport senior Jared Cloutier scored on a penalty kick with 22:45 to play to put the Trojans up 7-0.

The game ended with 17:06 to play when Fruitport junior Liam Parker scored off a pass from junior Adam Klimza, who has been playing exclusively with the junior varsity prior to Thursday.

Fruitport outshot the Packers 25-1 in the game.