Trojans score early, defend late to beat Spring Lake; first W since '15

Sep. 2—FRUITPORT — It's rare to see a student body rush the field following a regular-season victory.

But it's hard not to blame a full Fruitport student section for doing so on Wednesday night. A hard-fought 4-2 victory over nearby Spring Lake was the Trojans' first since 2015, according to MHSAA records, and prompted Fruitport students and players to celebrate their biggest moment of the season so far.

"Everything felt good, it was a real team effort for us," Fruitport forward Sean Gieske said. "We attacked when we needed to and really capitalized."

Two goals from Bode Anspach in the game's first five minutes turned the game on its head, and late goals from Gieske and Jackson Rebone settled things after the Lakers clawed back in the second half.

"It's a team game, and we're talented enough to where letting up four goals like that is unacceptable," Laker goalie Aidan Parker said. "It's something we wish we had cleaned up before conference play started, but that's how life goes sometimes."

A little over two minutes after the opening whistle, Anspach received a pass from Zach Schafer and cut inside to curl a right-footed shot inside the far post for the opening goal.

The second goal was an even larger surprise, a Brady Brown free kick was headed goalwards by Ryan Laus. Anspach was the first player to tap the loose ball into an open goal before five minutes had elapsed.

"We knew we had to score goals to stay in the game," Fruitport coach Dan Hazekamp said. "We had to counter and play the way we don't want to, but the boys hung in and battled."

For what felt like the next 75 minutes, the Lakers were on the front foot.

After taking the first moments of the game to adjust to the natural-grass playing surface, Spring Lake started stringing passes together and threatening the Trojan defense.

Sophomore Brady Brown and senior Tyler Kelly stood out for their work in keeping a dangerous Laker offense at bay. Brown made life for goalkeeper Justin Laus easy when he could, blocking shots and saving balls off the goal line in the second half. Even in allowing two goals, the Fruitport defense was the highlight of the night.

"It was a really combined effort," Brown said. "My heart was racing when you have to clear off the line, but we're ecstatic now, we made it work."

Fruitport went into the break up two goals, but knew the Lakers would have a response of some sort. Porter Saunders made the breakthrough in the first 10 minutes, heading in a long throw at Laus' near post to cut the Trojan lead in half.

Keeping the ball in Fruitport territory, the Lakers continued to chase for a second goal. Jacob Barnes had a shot saved, stepping up from defense as part of a tactical shuffle, and the next 20 minutes featured a number of half-chances for the Lakers.

Playing alone up top, Gieske's speed became a threat as the game wore on. It was another pass from Ryan Laus to set up the eventual game-winner, with the junior blasting a shot past Parker in a one-on-one to seal the game with 10:10 to go.

"We have a lot of solid goalscorers on this team," Kelly said. "Those early goals shocked us in a good way, but we eventually started to believe we were really doing this."

Jack Mulder hit the post for Spring Lake two minutes later, and his shot was blocked right into the path of Isaac Rudd to add a second goal for Spring Lake with 5:43 to go in a one-goal game.

However, Gieske latched onto another long pass to settle the game, passing inside for Rebone to wrap the contest up with just over three minutes to go.

"They outworked us tonight, they wanted it and we didn't," Spring Lake coach Jeremy Thelen said. "We had a couple things not go our way, hit the post, balls cleared off the line, but we didn't come up when it was the crucial moments of the game."

Despite giving up eight goals over two matches, Parker knows time is on Spring Lake's side when it comes to creating a fix.

"It's still early, and there's a few guys still trying to get experience at this level," Parker said. "We're still learning, we'll be fine."

The win moves Fruitport to an undefeated 5-0 to start the season, with Wednesday serving as their most impressive win so far. They'll get a better test as the OK Blue schedule wears on, with a trip to Holland Christian looming on Sept. 15.

For one night, the road ahead didn't matter quite as much.

"We want to keep this momentum going," Brown said. "This is an amazing feeling."

You can email Kyle at kturk@

grandhaventribune.com or find him on Twitter @KyleTurkGHT.