Western Michigan Christian rolls into Division 4 soccer regional final with shutout victory

By Ron Rop
LocalSportsJournal.com

HOLLAND – The Western Michigan Christian Warriors put on an offensive show in the first half of Tuesday night’s Division 4 regional semifinal soccer game.

After putting up five goals in the opening half, the Warriors cruised to a 5-0 victory over Marcellus Howardsville Christian.

The outcome earned the Warriors a spot in the regional final game at 6 p.m. Thursday against Grandville Calvin Christian, a 4-0 winner over Bridgman in Tuesday’s first semifinal game.

“The first half was great,” Warrior coach Ben Buursma said. “We responded well to their initial pressure and passed the ball around and finished the game quick. It took the pressure off right away.”

Armed with a gusty wind at their backs in the first half, the Warriors’ scoring surge began less than 5 minutes into the contest when Cole DeJonge touched the ball to Tekalegn Vlasma, who scored his first of two goals on the night.

Five minutes later, senior Ben Pollock broke through several Eagle defenders from 18 yards out and fired a shot that hit the back of the night inside the far post.

“We just carried the momentum and we played quick one- and two-touch passing,” Pollock said.

The Warriors went up 3-0 with 12:40 remaining in the opening half on Vlasma’s low shot that eluded Howardsville Christian goalkeeper Jonah West.

Senior captain Charlie Buursma fired a low shot from 22 yards in front of the Eagle net and made it 4-0 with 11:35 remaining before halftime.

Junior Ryan Riksen scored the highlight reel goal of the night when he unloaded a high blast from 25 yards out that caught the upper corner of the net.

“Riksen’s shot was incredible,” Buursma said. “He’s not going to forget that one for a while.”

The second half featured some pressure by the Eagles, but no goals. WMC goalkeeper Daniel Minasian was credited with just two saves in the contest.

The Warriors, on the other hand, pelted the Eagle net with 22 shots on goal.

“They had a couple good opportunities in the second half,” Buursma said. “They really picked it up in the second half. It’s hard for us to go into a second half up 5-0 and not give maximum effort.”

The Eagles had solid games from sophomore Lukas Krueger and senior Kaleb Swartz.

Eight of the Warrior shots came after halftime when Coach Buursma was able to substitute freely with the outcome decided.

In four tournament games, the Warriors have posted three shutouts.

“That first half, they had a little bit of pressure and we were able to pass it out wide,” said Warrior defender Ben Visser. “We weren’t pressured as much as normal.”

Top-ranked WMC takes its 18-2-3 record into Thursday’s game.

“We’ll work on some different stuff in training where we feel we need to improve against a team like Calvin,” Buursma said. “Our trainings have been pretty focused the last week to make sure we stay tight.”