Holland soccer falls in state semifinals as No. 1 St. Joseph penetrates Los Dutch defense
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ADA - Defense powered the No. 4 Holland boys soccer team into the state semifinals.
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But Los Dutch met the most talented offensive attack they had yet faced in No. 1 St. Joseph.
Leading by a goal, the top-ranked Bears stunned a Dutch defense that dominated all season with 14 shutouts, scoring three goals in a 9-minute span late in the first half to beat Holland 6-0 in the Division 2 state semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at Forest Hills Central.
Los Dutch finished the season 18-2-4 after capturing the Division 2 district and regional championship.
Coming into the game, Holland had given up nine goals the entire season. But St. Joe had only allowed four goals and found its offense early.
Evan Hudak put the Bears on the board with 24:44 go to in the first half.
The Bears nearly scored a minute later, but Holland goalie Simon Ozimek made a diving save to poke the ball away.
But Hudak wasn't finished. He scored on a rebound with 14:50 to go in the half, then after Will Peterson put in a left-footer into the right corner of the goal, Hudak made it a hat trick with a goal on a penalty kick, making it 4-0.
The Bears scored three goals in a little more than 9 minutes to take control of the game.
St. Joseph put the game out of reach when Luke Valenti got behind the Dutch defense just 1:17 into the half. Reece Crawford added another off a corner kick with 31:30 to go in the half.
St. Joseph will take on No. 6 Warren De La Salle in the Division 2 state finals at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at Grand Ledge High School. De La Salle beat DeWitt 3-2 in the other semifinal.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’[email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland soccer falls in state semifinals as No. 1 St. Joseph penetrates Los Dutch defense