Wet 'n Wild:
GH edges Spring Lake in OT at a rain-soaked Buccaneer Stadium
Fri, Sep 5, 2008 
to del.icio.us
BY MATT DEYOUNG
mdeyoung@grandhaventribune.com
Two soccer teams with very different styles collided at Buccaneer Stadium Thursday night, and the result was a fiercely-contested, well-played battle that required overtime to determine a winner.
The high-scoring Grand Haven Buccaneers had trouble generating much offense against the defensive-minded Spring Lake Lakers on the Bucs' rain-soaked turf field, but in the end, it was a highlight-reel goal by Haven senior Chris Buitenhuis that gave the home team a 1-0 victory.
Buitenhuis, on the field because one of his teammates had been sent off with a yellow card in the closing minutes of regulation, received a pass from Matt VanZytveld about 5 minutes into overtime. Buitenhuis took one or two touches, then ripped a bending shot from about 35 yards out that dipped just under the crossbar, eluding Laker goalie Alex Howe for the game-winner.
Click to enlarge
"Matt VanZytveld hit me and I was right in the middle," Buitenhuis said. "I saw that I was open so I just hit it. This is my second goal of the season, and my most memorable goal, by far."
Because so many of the Grand Haven and Spring Lake kids play soccer together on various teams throughout the offseason, Thursday's contest took on a bit of added urgency for both teams.
"We want to play hard every game, but especially against Spring Lake," Buitenhuis said.
Howe and the rest of the Spring Lake defense put together a spectacular game against a Grand Haven team that had averaged around four goals per game. The Lakers didn't let the Bucs' speedy forwards, Nick Heyboer and Mike Rosso, run free down the field, instead leaving four defenders back and having senior midfielder Michael Latsch man-mark Heyboer.
Howe admitted that he had a serious case of the butterflies early in the game.
Click to enlarge
"I started off really nervous," he said. "A bunch of those guys are my friends. I've played with them my entire life.
"We played as hard as we could. We held them off the first 20 minutes, when we tried to keep them at bay, because they've been jumping on teams early. I don't think I've seen our team play this well."
The Lakers nearly ended the game less than a minute into overtime as junior forward Luke Weavers got in behind the Bucs' defenders and crushed a shot that sailed just wide right of its intended mark.
"I was really impressed with our effort," said Lakers' coach Jeremy Thelen. "Our goal was to withstand the first 20 minutes. We know that's when Grand Haven has been jumping on teams. They're quick and explosive. We wanted to play good defense and give ourselves a chance to win.
"We worked hard, played good defense, and we had a few chances."
The Lakers also came close to scoring early in the second half as Aaron Adams split a pair of defenders and hit a shot toward the corner that Buccaneer goalie Will Morlock tipped away.
Most of the offensive chances, however, went the way of the Bucs, who held a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal. Grand Haven was the more aggressive team, and was also crisper with its passes.
"I'm proud of our guys," said Grand Haven coach Aaron Dean. "They've worked very hard on their fitness, and late in the second half and in overtime, it showed. This is a talented group, and a lot of that credit goes to the coaches they've had previously."
Dean wasn't surprised to see the Lakers put up such a stiff test against his undefeated team.
"This is a neighborhood grudge match," he said. "I wasn't concerned about motivating the guys for this game. Rivalries are like this. They know the kids, and know each other's tendencies, having played with each other so long."
Despite holding a fairly significant edge in possession time and shots on goal, Grand Haven couldn't put together any extremely dangerous chances in the first half.
"It was tough, because we've had a lot of success being real direct on offense, and Spring Lake did an excellent job of taking that away. (Howe) played very well for them," Dean said.
"At halftime, we talked about how we've got to change the point of attack, take some longer shots and get some rebounds. To (Howe's) credit, he handled the ball very well in the second half. I don't think he gave up a rebound."
The Buccaneers are back in action Tuesday as they open O-K Red Conference play against East Kentwood while Spring Lake plays at Hudsonville at noon Saturday.
JUNIOR VARSITY: Grand Haven scored a 4-0 victory over Spring Lake Thursday. Dillon Dwyer scored two goals while Chris Buitenhuis and Paul Byrne added single goals. The Bucs' defense pitched its fourth shutout in five games.
