NORTON SHORES – The Mona Shores girls soccer team has a lot of players who can score goals, and a lot of great defenders who keep opponents under control.

So sometimes senior goalkeeper Ella Buikema doesn’t get noticed too much.

But Buikema is always back there, guiding the defense and ready to make key saves when necessary.

It was necessary for the first 20 minutes of Mona Shores’ district semifinal game against Grand Haven on Wednesday, when the two teams battled back and forth and traded shots on goal.

Buikema was steady in handling the Buccaneer shots, which allowed her teammates to get untracked offensively, pull out a 3-0 victory and gain a berth in the Division 1 district finals on Friday at 6 p.m. at Mona Shores against the winner of Wednesday’s Rockford-Jenison semifinal.

Mona Shores goalie Ella Buikema directs traffic in front of the net. Photo/Steve Gunn

Buikema actually shared the shutout with backup goalie Jenna Baker, who played the last nine minutes of the game, but it was still her seventh shutout of the season.

“Ella was on it today,” said Mona Shores Coach Dylan Darga. “She did a great job of managing the back line and providing the safety net she always does. When you have the team defense we have, she sometimes doesn’t have to make a lot of saves. But she’s a big part of that defense, and sometimes she doesn’t get the recognition she deserves.”

The victory over Grand Haven was significant for the Sailors in more ways than one.

While they have been a dominant regular season team, winning the O-K Green conference title for the past five seasons, they have failed to win a district championship since 2017.

Mona Shores’ Lydia Sowles works her way around a defender with the ball. Photo/Steve Gunn

That’s because they always seem to lose to a team from the very tough O-K Red conference in the finals.

They lost to Grandville in the district finals in 2018, Grand Haven in the finals in 2019, and Hudsonville in the finals in 2021. There was no season in 2020 due to COVID.

Now they will have to face either Rockford or Jenison, two other O-K Red teams that are both very tough, according to Darga.

“There are quality teams in that conference,” the coach said. “They are battle-tested. That’s why we have the tough non-conference schedule that we do. We try to simulate what they go through, day in and day out, in their conference.

“Both (Rockford and Jenison) are solid. There’s no way around it.”

Grand Haven’s Heidi Berkey and Mona Shores’ Lauren Hylland race for the ball. Photo/Steve Gunn

Wednesday’s game seemed like a coin toss for the first 20 minutes, with both teams getting several quality scoring chances.

Mona Shores came close to finding the goal on three different occasions in the first seven minutes, with one shot hitting the crossbar and two others flying over the goal.

The Sailors finally broke through with 20:54 left in the first half when Mia Brown scored from in front, with an assist from Lilly Houle.

Shay Norden added a goal about 10 minutes later when she got past a defender and broke in alone on Grand Haven goalie Emma Radley.

Ali Trautner scored the Sailors’ final goal with 8:58 left in the first half, with an assist from Norden.

The second half was scoreless, with far fewer offensive opportunities for either team.

Mona Shores had a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal in the game.

“The girls did a great job of setting the tone and finishing the game,” Darga said. “We got 25 players in the game tonight. Any time you can do that in a district game it’s a beautiful thing.”

The Sailors listen as their coaches address them at halftime. Photo/Steve Gunn