District soccer: Zeeland West stuns Zeeland East; West Ottawa, Hamilton roll

ZEELAND - After losing a 3-2 matchup earlier in the season, the Zeeland West girls soccer team needed a new plan against rival Zeeland East.

The Dux managed to hold the Chix offense in check and won the Division 2 district opener 2-0 on Tuesday at Zeeland West.

Jordyn Klaasen scored the opening goal off of a cross from Rylee Smith early in the second half.

"We did a good job of finding feet in the second half and connecting," Klaasen said. "Playing our rival gave us a lot of energy and motivation to have a good start to the tournament. Rylee is an awesome player and gets the ball in really well. It is really fun to be out there with her."

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Smith did the same thing with an even more beautiful left-foot touch later in the second half and Mya Frego put it in.

"We did a much better job of making sure where Macie Moore was and make it difficult to play out to her. Offensively, we just found feet," Zeeland West coach Ben Hondorp said.

Zeeland East had one major chance early when Moore was taken down in the box. Her penalty shot hit the left post.

"We both played well and had our opportunities, but we just couldn't finish," Zeeland East coach G Hunderman said. "It was far from a perfect first season, but by biggest focus was the culture and making sure the girls worked well as a team. I think we were able to do that."

West Ottawa dominates Wolves

West Ottawa clung to a 3-0 halftime lead against Wyoming in the Division 1 district opener on Tueday at home.

But a second-half surge saw five goals scored in the first five minutes of the second half to put the game away, as the Panthers earned an 8-0 win.

Josie Kuyers had three goals, while Sydney Wilcox scored twice. Jillian Garcia , Heather Pachulski and Kayden Panse each added a goal for the Panthers.

"We talked about keeping the ball in our offensive end and we are not always good at that, so that was good to see," West Ottawa coach Brent Wyckoff said. "The girls put some good combinations together and made some good shots."

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The Panthers will face Hudsonville in the district semifinals at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, May 29, at home.

"Everything has to be ramped up in order to beat Hudsonville," Wyckoff said. "We were close last time, so we know we are capable of it, but we also know it will take our absolute best."

Hamilton wins big

Hamilton won its first round District game 8-0 in a mercy rule win over visiting Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills.

The Hawkeyes will now play in a district semifinal game next Wednesday, May 29, at host site Holland Christian against an opponent yet to be determined.

Holland girls defeated

Holland ended its season on Wednesday night with a 5-1 loss to Grand Rapids Christian in the district quarterfinals.

Ashley Saldana scored the lone goal for the Dutch (4-8-5) from a long shot in the second half.

"Grand Rapids Christian is a very good team," said Holland soccer coach Greg Ceithaml. "The end is always hard, especially since we will miss our eight seniors very much. They represent Holland Soccer in the best possible way."

The Holland seniors are Bella Edwards-Parker, Tyrah Allen, Lilly Mendels, Ibrie Elizalde, Makayla Flores, Kaydence Vesper, Mya Dailey and Victoria Jorgensen.

Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as  Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSport s.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: District soccer: Zeeland West stuns Zeeland East; West Ottawa, Hamilton roll