Holland Christian soccer claims OK Blue Conference title
HOLLAND - As the minutes and seconds began to wind down, the excitement continued to build for the Holland Christian soccer team.
The Maroons clung to a 1-0 lead from a first-half goal in the OK Blue Conference Championship game, which held up for a 1-0 win over Fruitport to clinch the title on Monday at Holland Christian.
"It is definitely a confidence booster. We have been struggling to put the ball in the back of the net," Holland Christian's Michael Pierce said. "Energy has definitely been a struggle, but winning this changes everything."
Combined with the regular-season standings and the conference tournament, the Maroons, ranked No. 6 in Division 3, claimed the outright OK Blue title.
"I am really proud of our kids. It is never easy winning a conference championship with the teams in our conference. I am really proud of the effort our kids put in," Holland Christian coach David DeBoer said. "This team is hungry. They have committed and any time you have invested quite a bit into something, you have expectations. But ultimately, we need to continue on the process."
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The Maroons opened the scoring with 17:46 remaining in the first half on a goal by Pierce.
"First half, we played a really nice half. We got one to show for it. Obviously, we would have liked to get a couple more. Fruitport is a well-organized and well-coached team and dangerous on set pieces," DeBoer said. "I am pleased with how it went."
It turns out, that closed the scoring as well behind strong goalkeeping from all-state goalie Daniel Morgan, who earned his 30th career shutout.
"It was a nice cross and I settled it, kicked it with my bottom left and it deflected off someone and went in," Pierce said. "Our energy was through the roof, and that really helped us."
Now, the Maroons head to districts looking to keep that energy going.
"Every game means more now," Pierce said. "The higher the risk, the higher the reward."
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland Christian boys soccer claims OK Blue Conference title with 1-0 win over Fruitport in the conference finals.
