The Varsity Eagles hosted Northview in the final OK White Conference match of the season on Monday night at Eagle Stadium. With the Eagles controlling the majority of the play, Northview was able to connect on the game's only goal on a corner kick in the first half. With lightning on the horizon, the game was suspended at halftime and never resumed as the storms rolled in.  The Eagles are looking to get back on the winning track as they host Kenowa Hills in the first round of the District tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Gainey Athletic Complex (4:30 kickoff scheduled).

The JV Eagles matched up against a difficult opponent in Forest Hills Northern on Wednesday night for the second game of conference tournament play. In a rematch from a previous Eagles loss, the boys came to play today looking for some redemption. With a high energy style of play, the boys pressed high and looked to send the ball to the wings to get some attacking options. However, both teams struggled to create any clear cut chances on goal and nothing separated the teams at the half. Again, the Eagles came out hard in the second half, but had some nervy moments on some Northern set pieces. Grand Rapids Christian produced some chances on the break but just could not capitalize. The deadlock was broken by Forest Hills Northern after a failed clearance and they were able to put the ball into the net. The JV boys kept their heads up however and kept pressing. The game was tied up after a throw in that landed to Peter Borst. He launched the bouncing ball from 30 yards out that rifled into the Huskies goal to tie it up spectacularly. The deadlock remained the rest of the game with Chase Harmelink coming up with some big saves in goal and Tyler DeBoer putting in a shift to shut down the Huskies offense in the midfield. The last game for the JV boys will be Monday, October 11 at 6pm at Eagle Stadium.

In the final game of the regular season and a busy 3 game week, the JV Eagles traveled out to Holland for a tough test against Holland Christian High School. The match began with both teams struggling to maintain too much possession. Holland Christian frequently tested the defense by moving the ball up the wings and sending a low cross in to the late run of a forward. However, the defensive unit of Andrew Overoorde, Carter Goodyke, Joe Pastoor, and Isaac Williams held firm. The Eagles offense found it difficult to get the ball too far into the opponents half even when they were able to possess the ball in the midfield. Despite the offensive difficulties, a nice play up the left side of the field resulted in a throw in. The ball was put into play quickly, and Peter Borst was able to move the ball into Holland Christian's box before setting up Boris Lalic for an easy goal and a 1-0 halftime lead. The plague of starting second halfs slowly hit again as Holland Christian applied immediate pressure and won a corner within 3 minutes of the restart. They played a driven ball in and put it away to tie it right off the bat. Holland Christian continued the pressure, but the Eagles did a good job of deterring them to win some attacks on the break. The continued pressure eventually proved too much as Holland Christian found the net once again with about 20 minutes to go. The boys fought hard to get the goal back and even had one cleared off the line before time ran out for the 2-0 loss. The boys begin their conference gameplay with a game at Eagle Stadium on Monday night.

The JV Eagles played the second game of the week and as many games in two days with an away game against East Grand Rapids High School on Tuesday night. After so many games in so few days, the boys still started out brightly with good ball movement across the field and using combination play to break the East Grand Rapids lines. It did not take long to get on the board with a goal after just 6 minutes. Attacking midfielder Boris Lalic collected the ball in the defensive half before clearing some space for himself by beating a few defenders. He played a nice ball into the overlapping run of Peter Borst, who was able to cleanly finish the ball into the net for the 1-0 lead. Opportunities continued to present themselves througout the half, but nothing clear enough to extend the scoreline. The Eagles started the second half with an early hiccup. EGR played the ball into the defensive third, but the boys struggled to clear the bouncing ball. It made its way across the top of the 18 before an East Grand Rapids player produced a nifty volley to lash the ball in to tie it up. After that, the Eagles struggled to move the ball effectively and it continued to bounce back and forth between teams. A couple of opportunities came up, but neither team could quite capitalize to end the game in a stalemate. The Eagles go back on the pitch on Thursday night for an away matchup against a difficult opponent in Holland Christian at 5:30.

In a busy couple of days, the JV Eagles played the last regular season home game against Unity Christian at Eagle Stadium on Monday night. The boys got off to a quick start and created decent chances early in the match. A great chance was created early with the ball moving quickly up the field into the opponents box before being poked away at the last minute. It did not take long for the breakthrough to come after that, with Miles Bourland collecting the ball near the half line and driving at Unity's goal before producing a neat finish to put Grand Rapids Christian up 1-0 after 5 minutes. The Eagles continued the pressure and worked hard defensively to keep Unity from getting too many chances to set up the second half with the 1-0 lead. The second goal came 9 minutes into the second half with a nicely worked goal. The ball came to Charlie Kileen on the left wing who produced a nifty in between the legs flick to move the ball up to Boris Lalic. With some nice passing and moving between Boris and Peter Borst, Peter was able to slide Boris in on goal for the 2-0 lead. Grand Rapids Christian continued to move the ball nicely for the rest of the half before the last minute counted down on the clock and Fredy Mendez-Gutierrez worked the ball on the right side with Miles. It got poked across the goal for Gerrit Boer to make a late run on the left and send the ball into the net for the 3-0 win. The JV Eagles match up with East Grand Rapids away on Tuesday night, for the second game of the week.

The JV boys soccer team got a rare opportunity to play under the lights at Eagle Stadium in a match against Forest Hills Northern on Friday night. This proved to be quite a tough matchup, with Forest Hills Northern showing high intensity and good skill on the ball. They were able to get a break down the right side of the field and cross the ball to a waiting forward to take the lead less than 5 minutes into the game. The rest of the half saw the Eagles fight to hold onto possession as Forest Hills Northern made us chase the ball for long periods.  The second half started with much more intensity and aggression as the Eagles found their footing a little and were able to create some chances. Peter Borst had an excellent shot that appeared to be looping into the top corner only for the keeper to get a finger to it. The defense held stout for the half with Chase Harmelink making some excellent saves and Joey Pastoor showing excellent defensive discipline. However, it just was not the Eagles night and the team could not quite capitalize on the chances created to fall to a 1-0 defeat. After a weekend break, the Eagles find themselves matched up at Home against Unity on Monday, at East Grand Rapids on Tuesday, and finally Holland Christian on Thursday next week.

The Grand Rapids Christian JV boys found themselves matched up against Greenville High School on Tuesday night. The goals came quickly in this game with Miles Bourland getting off the mark in the 6th minute off a long through ball from freshman Peter Borst. 3 minutes later, Miles found himself with another goal with a nice slotted ball from Soren White. Boris Lalic then got on the scoresheet with a nice finish after the ball was won at midfield by Peter who was able to feed it into the path of the striker. The next goal came from a long run from Andrew Overoorde who unselfishly laid the ball off for Boris to finish off. Miles then got his hattrick in the 27th minute with another feed from Peter for him to beat the keeper and finish into an empty net. Peter then got the favor in return from Miles to slot the ball into the corner. Andrew scored 4 minutes later off a bobbled set up from Carter Goodyke to finish off the half 7-0. The second half started quickly with Peter once again scoring from a nice Boris through ball. Peter scored again 19 minutes into the second half with yet another assist from Boris. 5 minutes later, Carter found himself alone at the top of the box to rip the ball into Greenville's net. Chase Harmelink found himself on the scoresheet with a nice header off a beautiful cross from Charlie Kileen. The game finished off with Peter scoring another goal with a clean assist from Soren. The JV Eagles find themselves matched up against Forest Hills Northern on Thursday night at 6:15.

Saturday found the JV Eagles at home to Jenison for a mid morning game to conclude a packed schedule for the week. The Eagles started brightly and found some pockets of space, but were unable to get the ball too close to the opponents net. Play between the teams was tightly contested and Jenison ultimately broke through first with a goal about 12 minutes into the game. The Eagles responded well and were able to get some chances on Jenison's goal, even hitting the crossbar. Grand Rapids Christian was able to tie it up in the 16' minute with Boris Lalic making a run and shooting. His ball deflected, but he was able to follow up his own shot to put it home for a 1-1 halftime score. The second half proved mostly dominant for the Eagles and they took the lead in the 39th minute. Some slick play down the right hand side that included a give and go between Luis Gomez and Miles Bourland sent the ball to the middle of the opponents box, where Boris was waiting to finish it off for a 2-1 lead. The boys worked hard to keep the ball and maintain their lead, but Jenison found a pocket of space with 5 minutes left in the game and curled it into the side netting to tie the game 2-2. Despite some prime opportunities after that, the Eagles would have to settle for a draw. This week finds the Grand Rapids Christian boys at home on Tuesday and Thursday at 6:15 for matchups against Greenville and Forest Hills Northern

Thursday night found the JV Boys soccer team back on the pitch for an away match-up against the Byron Center Bulldogs. The first half was a disjointed effort, with the Eagles starting slowly. The lack of sharpness made creating chances very difficult with the boys struggling to keep possession of the ball and get it into the attacking third. Despite the challenges, a long ball over the top from mid-fielder Peter Borst was won by Boris Lalic near the half line. Boris took the ball into the opponents penalty box and was able to fire a shot past Byron Center's keeper to put us 1-0 up with just over 15 minutes gone in the half. Even after the goal, the Eagles continued to find it difficult to retain possession and went into half-time with a 1-0 lead. A second half restart found the Eagles working a little harder to retain possession, but still lacking the continuity to create chances. However, with 17 minutes gone in the half, Boris put in the work to win the ball right on the mid line. After some neat dribbling, he was able to play a slick through ball to the run of Miles Bourland who touched the ball around the keeper and put it away into an empty net for the 2-0 lead. Boris kept up his work rate and once again won the ball right in the mid-field before playing an excellent pass to the run of Peter who calmly finished the ball in the corner for the 3-0 win.  The defense worked hard all game, with Isaiah King putting in a lockdown performance on his side of the field to help keep the clean sheet. The JV Eagles are back on the pitch on Saturday morning for a home matchup with Jenison.

Despite some excessively wet weather, the JV boys were back in action on Tuesday night at home against Forest Hills Central. After playing on turf for the majority of the season, the Eagles found it difficult to get into rhythm on the natural grass at Gainey. The wet field made it difficult for the team to connect too many passes. Meanwhile, about 10 minutes into the game, a driving downpour made conditions even more difficult with a soggy pitch and rain in the eyes. The officials called a 50 minute rain delay after playing 15 minutes of the first half due to thunder and lightning. The game was able to restart, but the delay had an effect on the boys and the Eagles were pinned in the defensive half for long periods. However, a long ball over the top found it's way to the left wing where Charlie Kileen was able to play the ball toward the top of the box to Peter Borst. He slotted the ball into the run of Miles Bourland who calmly curled the ball into the side netting, ending the half with a 1-0 lead. In a shortened second half, the Eagles got a little bit more comfortable, but still had to absorb some pressure from the Forest Hills Central Rangers. The Grand Rapids Christian boys started finding some space on the wings and were able to break through with about 12 minutes to go in the second half. A shot from Peter on the right side deflected and caused some confusion in the Rangers box. Miles was quickest to react and nod the ball into the net for his second of the game. The match finished a little sloppy from both sides with the ball bouncing between teams, but the Eagles held on for the 2-0 win. Next match is an away game at Byron Center on Thursday night.  

The JV Boys Soccer team was back in action on Saturday morning, traveling up to Northview for a midseason matchup. The JV Eagles came to play, and controlled the game with solid ball movement from front to back. The speed of play has steadily been ramping up this season, and that work was on display in the first half. However, it took a bit of time to get the finishing touch after a couple chances in the offensive end fizzled out. The Eagles broke through with Soren White controlling the ball near the top of the opponents box and playing through Boris Lalic to tuck away the first goal. After the restart, the Eagles continued the pressure on Northview, but did have a couple nervy moment when Northview played long balls overhead. Nevertheless, the back line of Isaiah King, Andrew Overvoorde, Carter Goodyke, Joe Pastoor, and keeper Mark VanHekken swept things up. The second goal came with 7 minutes to go in the first half with Boris driving the ball all the way to the net from near the midfield for a 2-0 halftime lead. The second half started strongly and the boys kept looking for the next goal. It came after about 10 minutes with Jack Jeppesen putting in good work high up the field to win the ball and play it to the top of the opponents 18-yard box where Peter Borst was waiting to neatly curl the ball in for the 3-0 lead. After that, the Eagles got a little comfortable and lost some intensity, but they were able to see out the half for the 3-0 win. The Eagles are back in action on Tuesday for a matchup against Forest Hills Central.

After a long weekend off, the JV Eagles were back at it against Lowell at Eagle Stadium.  Coming off some questionable weather, the game kicked off under the lights. The Eagles enjoyed significant possession of the ball, but found it hard to find the attackers feet under the wet conditions. The ball continued to skip across the turf and out of reach. Even though the boys were able to control most of the ball, Lowell caught the defense out of position and were able to rifle the ball into the far netting for a 1-0 lead.  The Eagles responded well and kept their heads up, with Fredy Mendez-Gutierrez putting in the work to win the ball in the offensive third. He played the ball to Peter Borst's feet who was able to pick his head up and slot Miles Bourland in to slot the ball home and tie the game up before half time.  The JV boys dominated the second half with continous fluid play from the defense up the the attack. The continued pressure eventually paid off, with Lowell putting the ball in their own net after some confusion in their box. The slick play continued through until about 10 minutes left when Peter picked up the ball in the mid-field and once again was able to play a nice through ball for Miles to slot home. The defense had some nervy moment, but were overall rock solid with Mark VanHekken manning the goal without too much trouble. Credit to the boys for their hard work during training and we look forward to the next game!

The boys of the Grand Rapids Christian High JV Soccer team traveled down to Portage Central High School on Tuesday night in what proved to be another tough test for the Eagles. The Game started brightly with the JV Eagles moving the ball around the field and getting some possession in the opponents half. Some good interplay between the mid-fielders and forward line led to a nice shot by Charlie Kileen that went just high off the crossbar. Portage Central had a couple chances of their own, but nothing to show for either team going into the half at 0-0. The second half started much like the first, with both teams able to move and maintain possession for short spells. However, Portage Central got a chance in the box that the Eagles just couldn't clear, and after 3 shots on target, one trickled in. After the restart, the boys continued to fight and get chances on Portage Central's goal, we just couldn't get them into the net. Portage got a breakaway with about 10 minutes left in the game and crossed the ball in for a free header into the net, resulting in a 2-0 loss.  We keep our heads up and move on to the next one!  

On another hot day, the boys traveled out to Holland to play against Holland High School and Gull Lake in the Holland Invitational.  The first game started bright and early at 8:30 AM against a technically gifted Holland team. The match began very back and forth with both teams struggling to control the game. However, the Eagles took the lead off of some confusion in the box, with Miles Bourland and Boris Lalic high up the field able to tuck the ball away. Shortly after, Holland managed to even the score with an attacker dribbling through multiple defenders before laying the ball off to a teammate who fired into the far net.  After half-time the Eagles got sucker punched with two quick succession goals from Holland that left the team reeling a bit. Holland sustained the pressure for most of the half before the Eagles got a break through Miles. A Holland defender fouled him in the box and he was able to tuck away the penalty nicely. A nice opportunity came to Miles once again, but the shot went just wide. After that, the team looked a bit more lively, with even defenders making runs up the field. However, eventually fatigue set in and Holland capped the game off with another goal to end it 4-2. With so few subs, the game against Gull Lake was a battle against fatigue. Defenders Isaiah King, Andrew Overvoorde, Carter Goodyke, Gerrit Boer, and goal keeper Mark VanHekken spent the game constantly dealing with the pressure from a well disciplined Gull Lake team. The Eagles struggled to maintain possession with fatigue becoming even more evident. Gull Lake's constant pressure eventually ended half-time with a 2-0 lead.  The second half was a good effort from the boys who moved the ball nicely, but didn't have the legs to keep it up with so few substitutes. Gull Lake found the net two more times, before a nice sequence of play through the midfield of Soren White and Luiz Gomez were able to find Charlie Kileen out wide. He played a ball to the feet of Miles, who was able to dance through a couple of defenders before rifling a shot home. The game ended in a 4-1 loss, but the JV Eagles showed very good resilience through some tough conditions.

Tough game for the JV Boys soccer team in our second match of the season. The boys were put to the test with a tough opponent and under some tough conditions. The hot temperatures definitely played a factor into the effort put into the match. Overall, the game was fairly even with teams going back and forth and South Christian enjoying some decent chances at our goal. We were struggling to get the ball into the attacking third when we won a corner 15 minutes into the game. Peter Borst served a nice cross in with Andrew Overvoorde out jumping the rest to put the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead. The rest of the half played out without either team getting any good looks at goal. The second half started much the same as the first with fatigue setting in. The defensive squad of Isaiah King, Andrew, Carter Goodyke, Joey Pastoor, and Gerrit Boer put in good shifts, winning balls and keeping the ball out of our net. South Christian had some sustained pressure that we were able to break with some rapid attacks through Soren White, Peter, Miles Bourland, Fredy Mendez, Charlie Kileen, Luis Gomez, and Jack Jeppesen. The Eagles had a couple of break aways, but just couldn't get the final product. Finally, Chase Harmelink kept the clean sheet in goal with some nice saves. Credit to the boys for hard work and getting the second win of the season!

The first game of the season couldn't have started any better! The boys came away with an 8-0 win on a very hot summer afternoon against Catholic Central. The game started a little slow with both teams getting a feel for each other. Slowly, we got more comfortable with the ball and moving it around through the mid field and up to our attacking players. After about 5 minutes of good pressing, the breakthrough came. Catholic Central won a free kick in the mid-field and played the ball directly into Peter Borst. After some quick feet and a nice through ball he found Boris Lalic to bury the goal and get us a goal up. After that, the goals came thick and fast. 5 minutes later Boris scored again after some nice work by Jack Jeppesen on the wing to win the ball and get it to his feet. The next goal was a towering header by center back Carter Goodyke after a nice corner kick by Peter. Not 6 minutes later, Gerrit Boer got on the scoresheet with a solo drive into the box and a nice finish to the corner of the goal. Then 2 quick succession goals with Miles Bourland scoring a nice finish off good build up play and a through ball by Boris. The half finished with Boris driving at Catholic's goal for his hat trick. The second half started very slowly as we became comfortable, but the next goal came off a beauty of a through ball by Peter to Boris. Boris shortly returned the favor with a slotted ball to the left which Peter coolly curled into the bottom corner! Chase Harmelink and Mark VanHekken kept a clean sheet in goal with nice work from the defense. Great way to start!