FRUITPORT – The Fruitport boys soccer team was recently ranked No. 2 in the Division 2 state coach’s poll, and after their performance on Thursday, the Trojans may be attracting a few more votes for the top spot.

Fruitport downed a strong Calvin Christian squad 1-0 in an O-K Sliver conference showdown at Ken Erny Field at Fruitport High School.

The lone goal in the tight contest was scored by senior Isaac VanderMolen late in the second half.

The Trojans started the game in first place in the conference while Calvin Christian, ranked No. 5 in the state in Division 4, was battling for second.

The Trojans are now a perfect 11-0 overall on the season and 6-0 in the Silver. Calvin Christan fell to 8-2-3 and 3-1-2 in the league

Fruitport has now gone six straight games without allowing a goal. That brings back memories of last fall, when the Trojans posted an amazing 13 straight shutouts.

The Trojans’ performance would have surely pleased the late Erny, the longtime Fruitport athletic director and soccer coach.

Erny, who started the Fruitport soccer program and was simply known as “Coach” to many in the community, passed away in June 2023 after a battle with ALS.

The Trojans played in his honor on Thursday and raised money for a scholarship fund that was named in his honor.

“I love Coach Erny, and lot of people here love Coach Erny,” said Fruitport head coach Dan Hazekamp. “We are still trying to use all of the lessons he taught us.”

The game was scoreless at halftime. The Squires outshot the Trojans 5-4 in the first half.

“They are a very organized team, very athletic, and very physical,” Hazekamp said. “They took us away from the things we like to do. Credit to them. Hopefully we can learn from a win, and we need to keep learning throughout the season.”

There was still no score midway through the second half, and Fruitport got a major scare when a Calvin Christian shot hit the goalpost and bounced away with just under 20 minutes left on the clock.

The deadlock was finally broken with 7:46 left in the tense contest when VanderMolen, who has been out of the lineup recently with an injury, gobbled up a misplayed ball near the Trojan bench and found the back of the net.

“It’s good to be back on the field, good to put one away, it’s been like three games.” VanderMolen said.

The other big heroes for Fruitport were playing on the other end of the field.

They included the defensive back line of seniors Braxton Ward, Samuel Krueger and Isaac Packard, along with junior Nathaniel Cribley-Cotto, who did a great job of limiting Calvin Christian’s scoring opportunities.

Goalie Logan Werschem, in his second season as a shutout specialist, stopped all nine of the Squires’ shots on goal.

“We had a couple of dicey moments,” Hazekamp said when asked about his defenders. “But for the most part we did a great job keeping them out of the box. Those guys are super tough and they played a full 80 minutes.”

VanderMolen echoes those sentiments, saying “The boys in the back were solid today, good energy from them.”

The Trojans will try to keep their unbeaten season going when they host North Muskegon on Saturday in a non-conference game.