A roundup of the four district final soccer games involving Holland-area teams.
GRAND HAVEN - The old sports cliche about it being difficult to beat a team three times in the same season doesn't always hold true.
But West Ottawa senior forward Saunder Sotok and his teammates proved that to be the case on Thursday night as Sotok scored a pair of goals in the Panthers' 2-0 upset win over No.3-ranked Grand Haven in the Division 1 district finals at Grand Haven High School.
The victory helped West Ottawa (13-3-3) erase the memory of two one-goal losses to the Buccaneers during the regular season, as the Panthers captured their first boys district soccer title since 2010.
The Panthers will play in the regional semifinals at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22, against East Kentwood at Hudsonville High School.
"We're both really even teams, we've both got great skill and athletes all throughout the lineup, so it was gonna come down to who was the more disciplined, steady team that could handle the waves of the game," said West Ottawa coach Tyler Robinson. "I told them the story of when I was in high school, our rival beat us twice during the (regular) season and then we shocked them on their home field in the district championship.
"Saunder's star has been rising all season and he just showed up in big moments tonight. You need your best players to play big in big moments. (Goalkeeper) Kyler (Comment) had two key saves tonight as well. It's not going to be a win if we don't have timely contributions throughout the lineup."
West Ottawa used crisp passing and a solid defensive line on the back end to control play on the Grand Haven side of the field for much of the first half.
But the game remained scoreless until the 6-foot-3 Sotok took the ball away from a Grand Haven defender in the box, made a deft move past another Buccaneer player and rocketed a left-footed shot from about 12-yards out into the bottom right-corner of the net at the 10:22 mark of the first half to give West Ottawa a 1-0 lead.
"We always controlled the game (in both regular-season matchups), but it just felt different tonight," Sotok said. "We believed in ourselves the whole time and we always knew we could get it done, so once we got that first goal, it was just all 'go' from there and we never looked back."
Sotok had another chance just a couple minutes later, but the Grand Haven goalie sprinted off his line and made a spectacular save.
Grand Haven (15-2-2) nearly came up with the equalizer a few minutes later, as a free kick from near midfield went off the hands of Comment, but center back Isaac Riley raced over to clear the ball away from the goal line before a Buccaneer player could get their foot on the ball.
"I step up when I need to step up, but we all work together well (on the defensive end)," Riley said. "We worked together, played hard, and weren't scared of them. We needed our 'get back' game and we needed to sink the ship after what happened in the regular season because we weren't gonna let that happen again.
"It was a game we knew we had to win. We gotta win if we wanna keep playing and I want more games with my team."
Sotok put the finishing touches on a West Ottawa win with 11:42 left in the game when his teammate Anders Traver fought off a Grand Haven defender to save the ball from going over the end line and fed it back to Sotok just inside the top of the box, who promptly curled a shot into the upper-right corner of the net from 16 yards away to give the Panthers the insurance goal that they needed.
"My boy Anders pressed, he won the ball and I see myself in an open pocket," Sotok said as he described the sequence. "He plays it back to me, I see far post open and I just curled it (right in)."
Recalling the day from start to finish, Sotok acknowledged "The energy just felt different, even during school. We were all anxious to play and get the job done. We dreamed of this all season and we always believed. It's a surreal feeling honestly."
Comment, who finished with six saves, preserved the shutout with 38 seconds left in the game as he made an impressive diving save off a shot from Grand Haven's Will Plummer.
"It's always tricky finding the balance between being overconfident and confident, but it helps to have 15 seniors who have been in the battles for so long," Robinson said. "They were also extra motivated with having lost to Grand Haven four times in a row. (Grand Haven) is a team that's used to having the ball and having their way physically with teams, but we were confident we could come out with a good game plan tonight and the guys executed. We haven't lifted a trophy in 15 years and it's an honor to be a part of it for sure."
Division 2
Unity Christian 1, Holland 0
Holland fell to Hudsonville Unity Christian 1-0 in the Division 2 district title match.
Unity scored the winning goal with 12 minutes remaining in the second half. Holland had some excellent chances, but could not tie the score.
"Unity is an excellent team," said Holland coach Greg Ceithaml. "We played about as well as we could. I am very proud of our effort and determination. The Holland players should be proud of the way they played tonight."
Holland ends its season 15-5-5.
Division 3
South Haven 1, Fennville 0
South Haven scored a goal with 6 minutes remaining in the game to beat Fennville 1-0 in the Division 3 district final.
Dereck Arredondo had nine saves in goal for the Blackhawks.
Fennville finishes the season with a 13-3-4 overall record.
Division 4
Calvin Christian 5, Black River 1
The River Rats fell in the Division 4 district final against Grandville Calvin Christian on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at Saugatuck.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: West Ottawa soccer wins district title, Holland, Fennville, fall
Category: General Sports