FRUITPORT – When a great high school team loses 15 seniors to graduation, it’s a fair bet that there’s some rebuilding to do, and a few losses will pile up the next season.
But it appears that the Fruitport boys soccer team has skipped the rebuilding part. The Trojans, who have 19 players who were not on varsity last year, have yet to lose a game,
The unbeaten streak continued on Wednesday when the Trojans played crosstown rival Reeths-Puffer to a 0-0 tie at Ken Erny Field in their first home game of the season.
While a tie is certainly not what the Trojans had in mind, the fact is that they are now 5-0-2 on the season.
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“I think with the schedule that we played out of the gate, a lot of people thought we may have started a little different,” said Fruitport head coach Dan Hazekamp. “These guys are off to a good start. We know there’s plenty of work to do, but the expectation is to win games, and the bar is very high here, so we’re just gonna keep working to reach that bar. We’re not gonna celebrate ties and those types of things.”
The tie with Reeths-Puffer was not a novelty. The two teams also played to a 0-0 deadlock last season, and Hazekamp expected the same type of struggle.
“Reeths-Puffer is a physical team,” the coach said. “They’re aggressive, so we knew it was gonna be a battle. It played out kind of how we expected it to. Over the course of the last four or five years, there have been a lot of tight games. That’s kind of a typical crosstown game.”
The physicality was evident almost immediately, with both teams committing multiple fouls during the opening minutes. Fruitport, however, began creating scoring opportunities early.
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Sophomore midfielder Mads Naenen put a shot on goal with 32:20 remaining in the first half before junior forward Quincy McDaniels followed with another less than a minute later. Junior midfielder Tate Marshall added a header that was saved with 30:58 remaining.
Reeths-Puffer generated chances of its own, but Fruitport goalkeeper Sebastian Sweet made several big saves to keep the Rockets off the scoreboard.
The Trojans were outshot 6-5 in the first half, but they stole all the momentum in the second, outshooting the Rockets 9-1.
Fruitport’s best stretch came over the final 13 minutes, when the Trojans repeatedly tested Reeths-Puffer goalkeeper Evan McCollum.
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Senior midfielder Gavin Wilson put a shot on goal with 13 minutes remaining, followed by attempts from McDaniels with 12:30 and 8:21 left. Senior Jyles Smith added another shot with 4:39 remaining, but McCollum stood tall for R-P.
Hazekamp was pleased with how his team responded to the game’s physical nature, particularly on a warm, muggy night.
“I was proud of our guys to battle,” said the coach, whose team finished with a 14-7 edge in shots on goal. “I thought we were resilient. I thought we, for the most part, kept our composure. We generated some good opportunities. Our goalie made some really great saves, so he was really good tonight.”
Sweet recorded his second straight shutout after stopping 11 shots in the Trojans’ 1-0 victory over Allendale on Saturday.
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Even with Fruitport’s unbeaten start, Hazekamp sees plenty of room for improvement.
“Areas of improvement, we got a lot,” Hazekamp said. “Composure and finishing, understanding kind of where the ball needs to go at certain times in the game, just kind of a little bit of soccer IQ stuff. Those are things that will come as we work our way through the season, but these are the kind of games you want to play and figure them out.”
Fruitport will return to action Sept. 8 at home against North Muskegon.
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