GRAND RAPIDS, MI – When high school football game time begins, rankings and past performance mean little. Cedar Springs showed how much hard work and collective determination can do, even against a top-ranked team.
The unranked Redhawks will face OK Gold's opponent, South Christian, No. 1 in Division 3, on Monday in what should be one of the state's biggest upsets through the first five weeks of the girls soccer season. We lost -0.
Cedar Springs, which is on a four-game winning streak, is playing its best football right now, as are other high-level teams in the Grand Rapids area.
Five weeks into the girls high school soccer season, let's take a look at five local teams that are on the rise.
Cedar Springs (4-2-1)
As mentioned above, Cedar Springs pulled off the area's biggest upset so far this season and is back in contention for the OK Gold title. Senior Regan Vaiu scored the game's only goal just over eight minutes into the second half, and junior Alyssa Balcombe scored her second straight and fourth of the year in Friday's 2-0 win over Jenison. Recorded a shutout.
Head coach Justin Harnden said the RedHawks are getting quality playing time from their reserves, starting 15 or 16 players in the win over South Christian and adding depth and unselfishness to playing time this season. He said that he was a key to the team throughout the season.
“Our focus is on taking pride in our successes rather than our individual successes,” Harnden said.
The RedHawks got off to a bit of a shaky start, opening with a scoreless tie against Lowell and 2-0 losses against Forest Hills Northern and Thornapple-Kellogg, but they've managed to cope by winning their last four games. I am getting the grades I can. This includes his only two games against teams with winning records, Rockford and Coopersville.
Rockford (5-0-3)
The Rams remain undefeated and picked up an important win last week, defeating Forest Hills Central 2-0. This was thanks to Sawyer Lennon's goal off a corner kick in the 49th minute and fellow sophomore Ira Brown's follow-up in the 64th minute. , took advantage of a central defensive error and drove the ball from the top of the box inside the far post.
Rockford is a fairly young team with several sophomores playing key roles, and has stepped up to the challenge so far with wins over East Kentwood and Forest Hills Northern, as well as ties with state-ranked Spring Lake and South Christian. It has been uploaded.
The Rams are tied for second place with Caledonia and West Ottawa in a tight race with the OK Red, and Tuesday's matchup with league-leading Hudsonville will be a great measuring stick for this young team.
Byron Center (6-1-1)
The Bulldogs are on top of the OK White with wins over Forest Hills Central and Lowell last week, sandwiched with a quality win against Otsego. Byron Center has scored four goals in each of those three games, averaging 2.9 goals per game so far, while also being solid defensively, posting four shutouts, including clean sheets against Otsego and Lowell. .
The Bulldogs remain strong favorites in Thursday's contest in Greenville and will then look to face tough teams in Portage Northern and East Grand Rapids to close out April.
Unity Christian (6-0-0)
The Crusaders have already had a great run this year, as the Division 3 state champions have won 12 straight games and are undefeated in their last 26 games dating back to last season. Unity Christian cemented its place at the top of the OK Blue last week with wins over state-ranked West Catholic, an improved Coopersville team and a high-spirited Fruitport team by a combined 16-0 goal differential. Ta.
The Crusaders have gone on a five-game shutout streak since defeating Mona Shores 2-1 in the season opener, but they will be back against state-ranked Forest Hills Central (April 25). Gull Lake (May 3) and Hudsonville (May 22) are just around the corner.
West Ottawa (4-3-1)
After opening the season with losses to Forest Hills Northern and Mona Shores, West Ottawa has lost just once in its past six games, with its most recent victory a 2-1 victory over Zeeland West. This might be the best result this year.
Josie Quiers scored a goal in the sixth minute against the Ducks to start the game, and Julia Frampton scored the game-winning goal six minutes into the second half, pushing the Panthers over .500 for the first time this season.
The Storm's game scheduled for Wednesday against No. 1 Hudsonville was canceled, but the rescheduling adds to an already grueling home run that resumes Thursday against a high-profile Rockford team.
