GIRLS SOCCER Saugatuck regroups to earn SAC-Lakeshore Division title share with Holland Black River

BY DAN STICKRADT

WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR

stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com

Twitter: @MiSoccerNetwork

SAUGATUCK, Mich. – Sometimes a soccer season can be more like a marathon than sprint. A season full of adversity, bumps in the road, trials, moments of thrill and victory and the bitter taste of the agony of defeat.

And everything in between.

Saugatuck went through it all during the 2024 regular season up until this point and can now take claim to the Southwestern Athletic Conference-Lakeshore Division co-championship. This is believed to be the first time the school captured conference titles in consecutive years.

The Trailblazers put the finishing touches on another SAC-Lakeshore crown Thursday at home, blanking Bridgman 8-0 in the final conference game of the season. The win gives Saugatuck a share of the conference title with Holland Black River Academy, as both schools finished 5-0-1 in division play following a 1-1 draw between the two league leaders on April 15 in Holland.

The Trailblazers lost some key players to graduation last June that were a part of Saugatuck’s recent resurgence in girls soccer. The program finished an all-time best 17-3-0 overall in 2023, finished 7-0-0 in league play to capture the SAC-Lakeshore Division title, pitched a school record 13 shutouts and outscored its opposition 86-12 over 20 games. The run ended in the Division 4 district finals against perennial state powerhouse and once-beaten Grandville Calvin Christian (3-1).

But some of those players left gaps in the Saugatuck lineup. That was evidence in the team’s 1-2-1 start back in late March and early April.

Saugatuck started with a 1-1 draw with Byron Center Zion Christian before dropping an 8-0 decision to Hamilton on March 25 – Hamilton was listed as honorable mention in the rankings early in the season. The Trailblazers lost again on March 26, dropping a 7-2 decision to three-time Division 4 state semifinalist North Muskegon.

The team has not lost a game since those back-to-back early-season defeats. Saugatuck was outscored 17-4 over its first four games as they worked newer players into the lineup – all a distant memory.

Saugatuck, 11-2-3 overall this season, followed up the North Muskegon loss with a 4-1 victory over Constatine on April 10 in the first game back after spring break. The Trailblazers are 11-0-2 since the layoff.

The latest victory came against Bridgman Thursday and Saugatuck did it in style with several players producing in the offensive third of the field, including seven different goal scorers. The Trailblazers capped a league season with a 29-1 scoring differential in six league games and only allowing a penalty kick goal against Holland Black River. The plus-28 differential inside league play is eight goals better than any other school in the league.

Sophomore Kennedy Gustafson notched the team’s seventh shutout of the campaign and the team’s seventh shutout in the last eight games.

Overall this season, Saugatuck has outscored the opposition 55-24 – and only eight goals allowed over the last 12 games where the Trailblazers are 10-0-2. Saugatuck d

Has a SAC-crossover game May 20 against Schoolcraft before drawing Grandville Calvin Christian in a pre-district contest May 24.

BLACK RIVER GAINS SHARE OF SAC-LAKESHORE PIE

Holland Black River Academy also finished 5-0-1 in SAC-Lakeshore Division play to gain a slice of the pie. The Rats have outscored the opposition 49-13 this season with three shutouts and are 8-4-3 overall.

Black River wrapped up its league schedule May 8 with an 8-0 triumph over Coloma.

Black River still has regular season non-league games against Byron Center Zion Christian and Holland to close out the season before the state tournament begins in all four divisions on May 22.

(Have a story suggestion for the Premier Media Group and the Michigan Soccer Network regarding club soccer, high school varsity, amateur soccer, collegiate soccer or professional soccer of teams or players with Michigan ties, contact Communications Specialist/Web and Content Editor/Director of News Dan Stickradt via email at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com, or call 248-884-1051. Dan Stickradt is a 31-year veteran of the Michigan Media circles and recently joined the staff full time in March of 2024. Want to schedule a broadcast game or live show, contact PMG/MSN Director of Broadcasting Jonathan Turner for availability and pricing at jonathan@michigansoccernetwork.com.)