Saugatuck soccer claims first regional win in program history behind buzzer-beating corner

FENNVILLE - Neave Rewa was racing to the corner as fast as she could. So fast she didn't see her own teammate.

>With 10 seconds remaining, the Saugatuck soccer star collided with her own teammate then quickly got to the ball, set it down and launched the corner kick toward the goal.

>As time ran down, the ball pinballed off a couple of players before Jordan Sanders knocked it in.

>It was the second goal of the game for Sanders and proved to be the game winner in a 5-1 win over St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran in the Division 4 regional semifinals on Tuesday, June 2, at Fennville High School.

>The victory is the first in program history in the regional rounds.

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>"It means so, so much. To be the first team in Saugatuck history, boys or girls, to win a regional game is just huge," Rewa said.

>And it started with the corner kick in the final seconds of the first half.

>"That was really chaotic," Rewa said. "I knew we had a lot of people on our team who were good at heading and finishing corners. I knew we had to take advantage of that opportunity. I was just trying to get the ball as fast as I could and get a quality cross in there."

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>It bounced around and final bounced off Sanders into the goal with 2 seconds on the clock.

>"I was anxious to get in there and get that cross from Neave. It was stressful," Sanders said. "It just went through right to me and I went ahead and scored. This means a lot. Saugatuck soccer is a big deal."

>Saugatuck will face Kalamazoo Christian at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 4, at Fennville. Kalamazoo Christian beat Western Michigan Christian in the first semifinal.

>"This was huge for us. We have never won a regional game, so that is where our sights have been," Saugatuck coach Neal Phillips said. "We want to see if we can push the envelope even further. I am just so proud of these girls."

>Saugatuck was on the board first when Audrey Rodewald scored on a rebound off of a corner kick by Rewa that skidded off the crossbar and found her foot less than 5 minutes into the game.

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>Michigan Lutheran's Katie Dailey evened the score with 24:39. She took a penalty shot that Saugatuck goalie Virginia Cernugel stopped - but Dailey tapped in the rebound to make it 1-1.

>Sanders gave the Trailblazers the lead with a shot that went off the post then spun into the net with 13:33 to go in the first half, then made it 3-1 with her last-second goal.

>Rewa added one of her own with a left-footed tap into the corner of the goal after a 2-on-1 advantage. Ryann Monroe added a goal just a couple minutes later to make it 5-1 with 22 minutes remaining.

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>"Neave scored, but we didn't lean on her tonight. Everybody played a great part. I love to see everyone doing things. We don't want to rest here," Phillips said.

>The score was a luxury after the Trailblazers won their district semifinal and final in shootouts.

>"We all knew what we had to do coming into the game," Rewa said. "We didn't want to go into another shootout. We just tried to finish everything and played like we know we can."

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

>This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Saugatuck girls soccer beats Michigan Lutheran in regional semifinals