Freshman nets lone goal as Western Michigan Christian pulls off ‘three-peat’ with another Division 4 state soccer title

By Jason Goorman
LocalSportsJournal.com

GRAND LEDGE – When high school athletes wrap up their careers, the student body often chants, “thank you, seniors”.

After Saturday’s down-to-the-wire Division 4 soccer state finals at Grand Ledge High School, Western Michigan Christian was most likely shouting, “he’s a freshman.”

Mason Bonnema is the freshman getting all the love from the WMC faithful after Saturday’s state championship matchup with Plymouth Christian. The now first-year varsity soccer player netted the Warriors’ lone goal needed to capture a thrilling 1-0 victory for the school’s third-straight state title.

It was WMC’s 10th state title since the MHSAA began sponsoring boys’ soccer in 1982.

Mason Bonnema kicks in the game-winning goal for WMC. Photo/Randy Riksen

“The game was crazy; it was kind of just back and forth with us possessing and them kicking it out from the back,” said Bonnema. “We just found a breakthrough in the last two minutes, it’s crazy. It’s a great feeling.”

The game-winning tally came with 64 seconds left in regulation and was nothing short of incredible by the timing and play.

Bonnema blazed his way in on a Cole DoJonge through pass that got behind Plymouth’s defenders inside the 18. He charged in on the pass, touched it once, then controlled a quick deflection off the foot of Plymouth’s Brock Bushey, and finally kicked in the game-winning goal off the outside of his right foot past the diving Plymouth goalie, Jonah Noel, who was tabbed to start in goal after starter Nik Vergel was injured in pregame warmups.

WMC’s Cole DeJonge controls at midfield. Photo/Randy Riksen

“When Mason put that in the back of the net, it took the weight off me and the rest of our team’s shoulders,” said Tekalegn Vlasma, who had 28 goals in his senior season. “He’s one of the best freshmen I’ve ever seen, he’ll be a great soccer player for the rest of his career. “

The 1-0 result came from a relentless Warrior squad that faced all the expected challenges in a 1-0 state-final shutout.

The biggest obstacles of the game for WMC was finding good scoring opportunities, but it also came down to a final chance for Plymouth to tie the game up with 30 seconds left.

After a Warrior foul from 25 yards out, Plymouth’s Caedmon Whipple, the team’s leading scorer, lasered a direct kick that had all the looks of finding the back of the net with a line going just under the crossbar. But, WMC goalie Dan Minasian was there for a dramatic save that sent Whipple’s shot over the bar and out of bounds.

“I thought to myself, it’s all down to me and I can’t let them score,” said Minasian. “When that free kick happened, I was setting everybody up to be prepared and then the shot came in and I made the save.”

Minasian’s epic save enabled him to post his sixth-straight shutout of the tournament and No. 11 on the season. The Warriors’ senior goaltender, fronted by a near perfect defense, did not allow a single goal in WMC’s playoff run.

“Defense made it easy, for the most part,” said Minasian of the playoff shutouts. “I had to make a couple big saves, but the defense has to take credit for it too.”

Tekalegn Vlasma tries to sneak a shot past Plymouth goalie Jonah Noel. Photo/Randy Riksen

WMC started the game strong right off the opening kickoff, stringing together more than 10 straight touches before Plymouth could even touch the ball. While the Warriors’ possessions were impressive, they struggled to find high-quality scoring chances.

The first shot of the game came off the foot of WMC’s All-State senior forward, Vlasma, less than three minutes in and from 15 yards out. That shot was the result of the Warriors putting together a masterful possession of eight passes that worked their way through to Vlasma getting the look.

Cole DeJonge took WMC’s second shot of the game, again after a long possession, but again the shot was from a long enough distance away that Plymouth’s Noel had no trouble posting the save.

While the Warriors worked incredibly long possessions, Plymouth was still able to make an impact of its own through the pressure of its forwards and midfielders. The Eagles’ first shots came midway through the first half, but WMC’s Minasian also had no trouble controlling.

“I’m just telling them we’re all good players, we’re a very strong back line, just stay very poised on the ball, control the ball very well and just play our game,” said senior Luke Maat, who led the Warriors defense in front of Minasian.

The back and forth between the two teams continued through halftime and neither had a great scoring opportunity until Vlasma was able to speed through for a long-awaited breakaway with 20 minutes left in regulation. But the Warriors’ leading goal getter waited too long for an opening and Noel was able to stifle the opportunity.

Vlasma again got loose less than two minutes later for another breakaway, blistering a shot off the right post on what was WMC’s best chance of the game.

Luke Proctor (12) heads the ball for WMC. Photo/Randy Riksen

Now with 13 minutes left for the WMC to earn the dream of a three-peat, Vlasma’s ringing the post attracted an offensive onslaught that Plymouth could not withstand. The Warriors rattled off six more shots before Bonnema’s game winner.

“Deep down, I knew we would score,” said DeJonge, a senior midfielder. “We had so much pressure on them, it was just a matter of when we’d do it.”

As the final seconds ticked off the clock and the entire WMC squad charged onto the field in pandemonium, all Warrior fans present couldn’t help but join in on the cheering after the three-peat.

“It just feels really good, I love this team so much, we worked so hard all season long,” said Maat, who is also the team captain. “We started (the season) out pretty rough, but we turned it around after a slow start and we knew we’d be able to compete. It’s a whole lot of fun, but it’s really the coaches and players that make a tradition like this worthwhile.”

Carter Heimiller heads the ball for WMC. Photo/Randy Riksen

The Warriors’ senior leaders join a soccer alumni that has been one of the state’s top programs since its inception in 1968. Minasian, Vlasma, DeJonge, Maat, Ryan Riksen, Ben Visser, and Ben Evans enter into a Warrior club that has now reached the state finals 17 times. That ties Detroit Country Day for most final appearances.

“It took me a while to understand the tradition,” said Vlasma. “But after my freshman year, I really got into soccer and the rest of the three years, I knew that this was the place to be for me.”

WMC’s 2024 state championship the 10th in school history … under four different coaches – Dave VerMerris, Adam Prince, David Hulings and now Ben Buursma, who tied Hulings for most titles with three.

“It’s so special to know our future is in safe hands,” said DeJonge about WMC’s future and having Bonnema, a freshman, scoring the game winner. “It’s special for him too that he can have that moment. He’s going to remember that forever to score in the state championship.”

Finishing the season at 15-7-3, WMC returns a pair of juniors next season, but also has nine sophomores and four freshman coming back.

“We’re going to have a great squad to build around next year, which has been the case each season,” said fifth-year coach Buursma. “We had quality senior leadership, we returned four all-state seniors who anchored each line of our team and so to build around them, they made it easy.”