Grand Haven holds off Jenison, wins fourth straight Division 1 district soccer title

LocalSportsJournal.com

Some teams just know how to get it done.

Grand Haven’s boys soccer squad showed that on Wednesday night when it captured the school’s fourth straight Division 1 district championship with a 1-0 win over Jenison at Hudsonville High School.

“It’s an awesome feeling, it’s something we set a goal to at the start of the season, we wanted to do a fourth district,” said senior Grand Haven goalkeeper Logan Shenefield. “It’s awesome to have been a part of it all four years.”

The win didn’t just come to the Bucs, they had to apply constant tenacity on the field and they had to keep out of their minds the loss they suffered to the Wildcats earlier in the season.

“Today they really brought the energy,” said Grand Haven coach Nick Tejchma, who is in his seventh season leading the Bucs. “It (energy) goes for everyone on the field and the bench, the guys that didn’t get to play much were really bringing it and they feed off of that.”

Grand Haven’s Brady Cotton (5) and Kam Olsen erupt after the final seconds tick off. Photo/Jason Goorman

Will Plummer became an instant hero for Grand Haven by putting in the game-winning goal barely three minutes into the second half. The junior forward managed a high bouncing cross from Owen Haveman, controlled the bounce with his chest and with one swift whip, side vollied a shot from 15 yards out that was unmanageable for Jenison’s keeper.

“From staying out wide, like my coach told me, listened to his coach,” said Plummer about his acrobatic goal. “It felt great, and to win the game with it, feels so good.”

The goal wasn’t all the Bucs needed to get the job done.

Will Plummer winds up to unleash Grand Haven’s winning goal. Photo/Jason Goorman

The backfield of Aiden Dault, Brady Cotton and Kam Olsen kept each Jenison attack at a minimum. When the back crew couldn’t stop the Wildcats from approaching the net, senior goalie Shenefield was there to stave off the advance. Shenefield made several key deflections on high-crossed passes into the goal box that every fan bites their nails over.

“Any ball in the air, I’m going to go and chase it,” laughed Shenefield. “That’s my favorite, let me tell you,”

Grand Haven goalkeeper Logan Shenefield collides with Jenison’s Isai Rodriguez. Photo/Jason Goorman

Grand Haven tied Jenison in shots on goal with five for the game, but the time of possession was definitely in the Bucs’ favor, especially in the last 10 minutes of the game.

“The guys just know it, when you’re in a pinch like that and especially in a game like tonight when you got the lead, don’t give the ball up,” said Coach Tejchma. “You don’t want to counter, you don’t want something to happen like a fluke (goal), so you have to keep it.

“They did a good job moving the ball around and getting our guys wide.”

As time winded down to 24 seconds left in the game, Jenison was able to get one last good opportunity to tie the score. Grand Haven was whistled for a penalty from 30 yards out, and it looked like the Wildcats’ card had finally shown up. But so did Shenefield in goal for Grand Haven.

Jenison was able to get two high quality shots off in the final seconds, but Shenefield came through with a pair of saves that pushed the ball out of bounds and the last second ticked off the clock.

“Just not let up and stay in the moment,” said Shenefield about Jenison’s last two shots. “I think I did a great job doing that with two saves in the final 10 seconds. This team has really put it together in these final games and it’s been great to see.”

The win advances Grand Haven into Tuesday’s regional at Grandville High School at 5 p.m. where they will face the winner of Byron Center and Grand Rapids Northview.