A Look Back at Year 3:  2006

By Paul Rosenbrook

Fresh off a State Championship appearance the previous season, we were ready to take on the world in 2006.  We had graduated some talented Seniors:  Rob Saliers, Andrew Kelly, Peter Wilder, Adam Kimo, Josh Quador, Zak Zeoli, Ian Hall, and Nathan Ritchie.  Coach Matt Roberts, the 2005 State Coach of the Year, moved on to become an assistant at Aquinas College.  This would be my first season as the Men’s Varsity Head Coach at FHE.

We were set to return seven starters from the ’05 team along with several key reserves.  However, in the weeks leading up to the season, we lost three key players to suspension for the season, meaning that we would be leaning on our outstanding incoming freshman class to get over the learning curve quickly.

We started 5 freshmen that season:  goalkeeper Graham Wallace, defenders Kyle Haverkate and Lawrence Murray, midfielder Freddy Smyser, and forward Ben Thomas.  A 6^th freshman, Brandyn Hockstra, was one of the first players off the bench.  We were very young in that aspect, but Juniors Scott Howard, Andy Engle, Zac Tolsma, and Sophomores Josh Schultz and Zach Myers were battle-tested and, along with our lone Senior Pat McManus, provided a foundation of leadership and confidence.

We opened the season with an 8-0 win over Byron Center, but would lose two of our next three games to begin the season at 2-2-0.  After a 1-1 tie with a talented EGR team, we found our stride.  We went 10-1-0 over our next 11 games, including two big wins over league rival Calvin Christian, to secure our first OK Conference Championship.

At this point in the season, we began to wear down.  We were looking a step slow as many players dealt with injury and fatigue.  We lost 2-0 to Portage Central, gave up a late goal in a 3-2 loss at Godwin Heights, and narrowly defeated Comstock Park before going into our final regular season game at South Haven.

South Haven was a talented team, ranked #3 in the state at 15-3-1, which had beaten us 6-0 the season before.  They had many talented players, including 5 who would be named All-State that season, and they had great team speed.  They scored 2 goals in the first 22 minutes and looked to be poised to open the floodgates, until Freshman Brandyn Hockstra entered the game as a substitute forward.  Hockstra scored in the 26^th minute off a pass from Josh Schultz to bring us within a goal at halftime.  In the second half, it was Hockstra again, as he buried a shot in the 46^th minute following a Zac Tolsma through-ball.  The score deadlocked, the game became a physical grind, as both teams racked up over 20 fouls apiece.  After two overtimes, the game ended in a 2-2 tie.

Our regular season ended at 14-5-2, and we had earned ourselves a #5 ranking in Division 3. 

Our first Districts game was hosted by our first-round opponent, Saranac.  We took a 4-0 lead into halftime, then proceeded to score four goals in the first 10 minutes of the 2^nd half to complete the mercy rule.  Scott Howard scored four of the team’s first six goals in the win.

In the District Semifinal, we met up with Godwin Heights, who had beaten us late in the season.  This time, we were ready to play:  we outshot them 13-4 in the first half, capitalizing on goals by Scott Howard and Zac Tolsma in the first 12 minutes.  However, it was Godwin’s hero from the last matchup, Carlos Esquivel, who tallied the next goal in the 34^th minute, to bring the halftime score to 2-1.  As Godwin looked to continue its momentum, it was FHE freshman Freddy Smyser who would change the course of the match with goals in the 44^th and 54^th minutes, giving us a comfortable 4-1 lead.  Scott Howard would round out the scoring in the 63^rd minute, capitalizing on a free kick opportunity.  We were on to the District Championship.

The District Final was a matchup of two teams who had gotten to know each other very well.  Calvin Christian and FHE had quickly established a rivalry, with this game being the 8^th matchup in our first 3 seasons.  The 2005 team had lost to Calvin in our two conference games, then beat them in the District Championship as part of our remarkable state tournament run.  This season, 2006, had us beating Calvin in our two conference games, and were again matched-up with them in the District Championship.

The District Final had to be moved from Calvin Christian’s home field to Grand View Elementary, due to an excessive amount of rain and flooding.  In another deadlocked, fierce battle, both teams went into halftime at 0-0, with shots even at 5 and corner kicks at 2 apiece.  In the second half, we brought our level of play up considerably, led by Junior Scott Howard, whose 9 shots equaled Calvin’s total for team shots at the end of regulation.  Still, both teams remained scoreless, and headed for sudden-death overtime.  With 2:53 remaining in the first overtime, a Calvin central midfielder received a ball and turned, striking a seemingly-harmless shot toward the far post:  however, in the wet conditions, the ball took an odd skip and found the net to end our 2006 tournament in heartbreaking fashion.

We finished our season at 16-6-2, earning our first conference championship (OK Silver) and a #4 final state ranking in Division 3.  Scott Howard led the team with a then-school record of 24 goals, earning 2^nd Team All-State.  Juniors Andy Engle and Zac Tolsma would be named All-State Honorable Mention, along with Freshman goalkeeper Graham Wallace, who finished the season with 12 shutouts and a 0.85 goals against average.

This is the third in a series about our program's history.  I hope this helps the current players and families understand how we got to where we are and link our present to our past...