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West Ottawa soccer falls to Hudsonville in district final

West Ottawa's Jillian Garcia, right, controls the ball during the district finals on Friday at Hudsonville.
West Ottawa's Jillian Garcia, right, controls the ball during the district finals on Friday at Hudsonville.

HUDSONVILLE - Chelsea Overbeek was the last player to get on the bus after the game.

The West Ottawa junior soccer player didn’t want to end the season so quickly.

“Hudsonville is always the team to beat and we lost to them last year (in the district title game),” Overbeek said. “We went in with a positive mindset. But then they scored with 3 minutes into the game.”

Hudsonville scored just 2:22 into the game and went on to beat West Ottawa 3-0 in a Division 1 girls soccer district championship game on Friday evening.

“They’re a super-talented team,” West Ottawa coach Brent Wyckoff said. “Against teams like that, you can’t sit back. You have to try to go after them. We were hesitant at the beginning of the game. We were sitting back and waiting for things to happen. And they caught us.”

Hudsonville led 1-0 on a goal by Maislin Joldersma. The Eagles made it 2-0 in the 23:00 mark of the first half when Yaarra Hefer-Zik scored on a rebound after a corner kick. With 7:04 left in the game, Hudsonville was awarded a penalty kick and Kendall Aikens scored on the play.

West Ottawa's Chelsea Overbeek dribbles upfield at Hudsonville on Friday.
West Ottawa's Chelsea Overbeek dribbles upfield at Hudsonville on Friday.

Wyckoff said West Ottawa’s lack of offense puts a lot of pressure on the defense.

“Brooke (Pedersen) and Maylee (Levandoski) have been huge for us all year,” he said. Our whole back line has been good. But we haven’t scored many goals all year, so that puts a lot of pressure on the defense. Brooke is a very good physical defender and has high expectations for herself.”

Overbeek said she’ll miss the camaraderie she has with her senior teammates.

“The toughest thing about ending a season like this is losing by so much,” Overbeek said. “I’ll miss the team bond we all have. A lot of us are really close friends. We hang out together and play club soccer together. I’ll miss joking around with all the seniors, too.”

West Ottawa's Rogan McLean makes a save against Hudsonville.
West Ottawa's Rogan McLean makes a save against Hudsonville.

West Ottawa junior goalkeeper Rogen McLean was strong in net, stopping six shots.

West Ottawa, which was out-shot 9-2 in the game, finishes the season 11-9-2. Hudsonville improves to 16-2-2.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: West Ottawa soccer falls to Hudsonville in district final