By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
HOLLAND—Four minutes and 54 seconds.
That’s all that separated the Plainwell girls soccer team from a trip to the Division 2 State Finals.
But in athletics, five minutes can feel like an eternity. Such was the case for the Trojans in their state semifinal game against East Grand Rapids on Wednesday, June 13.
East Grand Rapids scored not one, but two goals in the game’s waning minutes, erasing the 1-0 lead Plainwell held the majority of the contest and claiming the 2-1 victory in dramatic fashion.
The loss snapped an 18-game unbeaten streak for Plainwell, which started the season at 1-2-2 before posing a 17-0-1 mark entering the semifinals.
The Trojans finished the season at 18-3-3.
“It’s been a fantastic group,” Plainwell coach Garry Snyder said. “We got off to that slow start this season, but then we found momentum and found a way to score goals in bunches and defend like crazy.
“The season came to an end, but that was a very good East team we were playing and I couldn’t be prouder of the girls. I saw lots of development in their play throughout the season.”
Snyder was trying to make it to the state finals for the second time in his coaching career. He led the Plainwell boys to a state title more than two decades ago.
“What made this group of girls so special was the team chemistry and their ability to play together. The unselfishness they had working for one another. It’s a great group and we had a fantastic season.”
For the majority of the semifinal contest, it looked as if the season would last one more game for the Trojans.
Slightly more than 15 minutes into the first half, Trojan junior Kayla Baar showed off her explosiveness when she raced around the right side and unleashed a hard shot.
East G.R. keeper Makenna Gessner managed to get her hands on the ball and keep it out of the net. But Gessner couldn’t stop the rebound shot from senior Laken Whittington as Plainwell took the 1-0 lead.
With the score unchanged, EGR came out to start the second half with a renewed sense of urgency. Three times in the first six minutes of the half, the Pioneers threatened to score, only to have Plainwell keeper Eliza Harris make a sprawling save.
“Eliza did a great job all game long,” Snyder said.
EGR finally got one past Harris midway through the second half. That’s when, following a corner kick, Pioneer Mollie Brnadstadt chest the ball into the net to the equalizer.
But the line judge called Brnadstadt for offsides and disallowed the goal.
“I felt like when we got that goal called back that was offsides, I felt like that was it,” EGR coach Fabian Rodriguez said. “All the hard work, all the chances we were getting had finally paid off but that really deflated me a little bit.
“But I still knew we had enough time to get a goal.”
Or two.
Off a header from teammate Henny Maher, forward Gracie Lynn unleashed a shot that eluded Harris’ grasp and knotted the score at 1-1.
The Pioneers continued to force the pace during the next several minutes until, with 28 seconds remaining, Reese Lynn fed the ball to twin sister Gracie Lynn. She took a shot from just outside the box that deflected off a Plainwell player.
That deflection changed the ball’s flight and Harris, who had been in position to make a play on the original shot, wasn’t able to get to the other side of the net in time.
“Once we got the tying goal, my immediate thought was that we were going to PKs,” Rodriguez said. “But then my assistant coach was like ‘let’s go for the win.’ And at that point, we were said ‘screw it, let’s go for it.’
“We made some changes, brought a defender up and the girls worked hard. I just told them that sometimes luck comes with constant hard work in just continuing to push and push because something’s going to come your way.”
Snyder credited EGR for playing hard throughout the game.
“The first 40 (minutes), they had us chasing,” he said. “The second 40, they really had us chasing. We couldn’t win the balls we normally do. We still had chances to get forward and finish. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get one after that first one.
“We were a little ambitious trying to put the ball forward and got a little out of position. They were patient and knocked the ball around. It was very, very unfortunate that the (winning) shot went off of one of our players and deflected in.”
Although the loss brought an end to the prep careers of the seven seniors on the Plainwell roster, the cupboard is far from bare.
“We have a great group coming back, a lot of youngsters coming back,” Snyder said. “We lose the seven seniors, but we have some good incoming freshmen who can fill some spots as well as the great group we return. So, it looks promising.”