Zeeland West soccer stuns Holland for historic comeback win
The Zeeland West boys soccer team has continued to improve, building its program into a contender.
The Dux came into Tuesday's matchup at Holland having not beaten the Dutch in years.
How many? So many that coach Andy Hondorp didn't even know the last time that happened.
"It's been a long time," Hondorp said.
Now the Dux know as they rallied from two goals down for a stunning 3-2 win over the Dutch.
"In four years, we lost our first three years (to Holland) and lost in the district final last year as well," Zeeland West senior Sammy Salas said. "The fight we put up and how we didn't quit … we just pulled through and finished the game. We definitely don't want this to be our peak. It comes down to how hard we want to work."
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It comes at the right time for the Dux after a tough loss to Zeeland East, but trailing and not giving up gives them a new level of confidence.
"We have been struggling, and for us to come in and be down 2-0 and fight, we have been preaching this brand of soccer since day one. When we play like this, we can play with anybody, and hopefully these guys start to believe that," Hondorp said. "Holland is always a great team. This is big for us."
Down 2-0 at halftime, Micah Henry got the Dux on the board with a rocket over the head and just out of reach of the Holland goalie.
Sammy Salas scored the equalizer with a nifty move and another rocketed shot.
"The main halftime talk was going out and having fun. If we can do that, we can play the way we want to play," Salas said. "When one falls, it just starts raining. As soon as that first one fell, I got that adrenaline rushing and just pushed forward (and got one in)."
The Dux weren't finished.
Ivan Michmerhuizen ended up with the game winner late in the second half as the Dux bench erupted.
"We played our game in the second half. We didn't let Holland dictate play. We sat soft in the first half and we figured out that we can play with these guys and started to settle in," Hondorp said.
Both of Holland's goals were scored by freshman Josiah VanHekken with assists from Fletcher VanHowe.
"We had a lot of excitement being our first home game. A lot of things clicked, but we didn't maintain that pressure on Zeeland West and they were hungrier than we were. They outworked us," Holland coach Greg Ceithaml said. "They had a great game plan and didn't panic when they were down. They kepts working, and it paid off."
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Zeeland West soccer stuns Holland for historic comeback win
