Western Michigan Christian tops GR Covenant Christian on Warrior Weekend

LocalSportsJournal.com

It is homecoming weekend around the area. But for some schools that don’t have a football program, the lights don’t get turned on for all the festivities.

Western Michigan Christian doesn’t have football, but it does have its annual Warrior Weekend in the fall which is highlighted by a big soccer matchup.

The Warriors turned their Warrior Weekend into success on Saturday with a 5-2 win over Grand Rapids Covenant Christian. The game was tied at halftime, but WMC came through with three second-half goals to close out the win.

WMC coach Ben Buursma headed into the weekend 0-3 during his tenure on Warrior Weekend, but now can say that he’s got a “W” on the big day.

Lucas Dick fires a shot for WMC. Photo/Randy Riksen

“I wouldn’t know, this is the first one I’ve had so it feels good right now” joked Buursma when asked what it felt like to win on Warrior Weekend. “We played to 0-0 ties against Covenant the last 2 years and a 3-0 loss to Whitehall in my first year here.”

The Warriors jumped out to an early 1-0 lead off a Charlie Buursma goal, his 10th of the season. The goal was a nice gift to Coach Buursma, Charlie’s dad, as the Warriors hadn’t scored in its past three Warrior Weekend contests.

“This one (Warrior Weekend) stands out every year,” said Charlie Buursma, a four-year starter and a senior. “First time we’ve scored on Warrior Weekend, and we finally got some goals and the win.”

Cole DeJonge gave WMC a 2-1 lead four minutes later with a goal in response to a quick Covenant Christian tally that tied the score seconds earlier.

The fast-paced offensive start turned down until Covenant Christian scored with just 24 seconds left before the half.

The second half was all WMC and DeJonge was the setup man as he posted assists on all three Warrior goals. Tekalegn Vlasma, Eli Malek and Ben Visser were the second-half goal scorers for WMC.

“It’s great because our entire school is here and if you perform like that, it shows the kind of player you are and to beat a good quality team like they are,” said DeJonge who is a fourth-generation student at WMC. “Almost my whole family was here today and it was great to have an impact on my team getting the win.”

The Warriors (10-2-3) outshot Covenant 17-9 as goalie Daniel Minasian earned the win.