Courtesy Photo | Allendale Athletics
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MICHIGAN SOCCER NETWORK: MSN NEWS: www.michigansoccernetwork.com/msnnews
Falcons take down defending D-3 state champion and perennial powerhouse Hudsonville Unity Christian, 1-0
BY DAN STICKRADT
WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR | DIRECTOR OF NEWS
Michigan Soccer Network | Premier Media Group and affiliates
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ALLENDALE, Mich. – Finally.
After fielding competitive teams for several years, Allendale is now a Division 2 district champion in boys soccer.
The Falcons did so on Wednesday night on their own field after downing state powerhouse and Ottawa Kent Conference-Black Division champion Hudsonville Unity Christian, 1-0.
Eighth-ranked Hudsonville Unity Christian captured the Division 3 district crown last season but moved up to Division 2 this season along with fellow Grand Rapids-area powerhouse Grand Rapids South Christian. Allendale, having its best season in school history, has played in a couple of district titles games in years past but have never been able to get past the plethora of highly-regarded, state powerhouse programs with rich histories that have enjoyed many deep postseason runs.
“It really is special,” said Allendale coach Mike Chojnacki, whose team not only beat a perennial powerhouse program but ventured through the deepest Division 2 district in the state in terms of quality teams. “To do it on our home field and to beat Unity Christian – they are such a great soccer program – it means so much to these boys. And to do it at home, that’s makes it even more special. Plus, it was as tough of a district around – so many good teams in this district.”
Allendale, which captured the inaugural River Cities Conference title this year at 12-0-0 after finishing fourth in the loaded Ottawa Kent Conference-Blue Division last season – a league which featured Unity Christian, Holland Christian and current No. 1 Division 2 ranked Fruitport – has set a multitude of school records this season.
The Division 2 fourth-ranked Falcons are now 19-1-0 on the year, and besides the league and district championships, have outscored the opposition an impressive 88-9 with 12 shutouts in 20 games. The Falcons’ stout defense has recorded a team goals-against-average of 0.45 – top 10 in the state overall combining all divisions and conferences – and has played solid and consistent soccer all season long.
Allendale, which brought back its entire starting 11 from last year along with several key reserves, has posted three straight shutouts and collected clean sheets in four of its last five games. Following the league title-clinching 5-0 win over Cedar Springs, the Falcons blanked Zeeland East (2-0) and Unity Christian (1-0) in the state tournament.
The win over the Crusaders (15-3-4) is one of the bigger wins in program history.
“They are always really good. Sure, they lost some players of that state championship team, but they always replace those players with another (wave) of players and did so this year,” said Chojnacki. “This was a great win for our program and it happened to come in the district finals.”
Senior center back Gavin Blanksma, one of several college recruits on the roster, scored the game’s only goal off a serve from sophomore midfielder Kolby Malott. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound senior leapt high to head home a free kick into the box by Malott and he sent it past Unity Christian sophomore keeper Alen Deppe, who was the starter in last year’s D-3 state championship game.
Senior goalkeeper Alex Genise recorded his team’s 12th clean sheet, but the victory came at a price. Senior midfielder/back Hogan Malott went down with a season-ending injury in the first half, a broken collarbone that will keep him out of playing sports for several months. Malott was one of the Falcons’ senior leaders and an experienced fourth-year varsity veteran.
“That hurts. Hogan was one of our leaders and top players. It didn’t matter where we played Hogan on the field, he was one of our top players,” noted Chojnacki. “We’ll miss him. But the one thing about this team is we have depth and players that can play multiple positions. We’ll have to make some adjustments, but we’ll be all right.”
Allendale’s defense has been sharp as a needle all season, not just conceding only nine goals but making it difficult for all teams to even generate quality chances. Only eight schools have even scored goals on the Falcons and only Grand Rapids Northview was able to score twice, and that was a 7-2 non-conference victory way back on Aug. 17 in the second game of the season.
Other than a 1-0 setback to Wyoming Godwin Heights back on Aug. 23 in the fifth game of the season, Allendale has been on a tear – going 15-0-0 down the stretch. A total of 16 of the 19 wins have been by two or more goals and in nine games the Falcons have registered wins where they have scored five or more goals.
“I’m not just proud of our offense, but our defense has been great all season,” noted Chojnacki. “We don’t give up a ton of chances and we just play so hard. We make it very difficult for opposing teams to score on us. We have some size back there and some speed and we cover for one another.
“I know we lost only one game, but in a way that may have been a good thing for us. It allowed us to kind of refocus and we have not lost since then and that was back in late August,” continued Chojnacki. “We have been playing very good team soccer with everybody doing their part. Now with the injury to Hogan, we’ll have to make some changes, but we have some very capable players that we can move back there and they’ll do the job.”
In the last 10 games, the Falcons own a 40-4 scoring edge while wiping the competition away with six clean sheets in that stretch.
Allendale will take its 19-1-0 record into next Tuesday’s regional semifinals at St. Joseph against unranked Coldwater, which got past Parma Western 3-1 on Wednesday night to win its district title.
“We don’t know a ton about them, but to win a district they must be good,” added Chojnacki.
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