A Nil-Nil Saturday at WMC!! On Saturday 9/24, the varsity Chargers headed north to Muskegon on Saturday to take on the Warriors of Western Michigan Christian (6-6-2) on Warrior Weekend.  The first half saw both teams have some great opportunities both on corner kicks and offensive attacks to put a goal into the net but the opposing goalies were up to the task in making several saves to make it nil-nil at the half.  (Nil is the soccer term for zero like love is zero in tennis) The second half was much the same as the first half with both teams continuing to apply offensive pressure  on each other's defense.  Jaydon Gritters remained strong in goal in the second half along with the rest of the team in keeping the Warriors off the scoreboard and earn the Chargers a nil-nil (0-0) tie. The Chargers move to 5-7-2 on the season with the tie.  The Chargers next game is versus Fruitport at home Tuesday night at 6:45 pm.

On 9/22, Covenant Falls In a Thriller!! Thursday night the Sailors of South Christian (9-1-3) came to Charger Stadium to take on the Chargers.  The Sailors quickly showed why they were the 6th best team in the state regardless of divisions (according to MPR) as they quickly applied heavy pressure on the Chargers defense and goalie Jaydon Gritters.  But it turned out the Chargers were the first team to find the back of the goal with a strike from Zach VanBaren after receiving a beautiful assist from Travis Holstege to put the Chargers up 1-0 at the 36:28 mark.  The Sailors were held at bay til the 12:16 mark of the first half when they got their first goal with a header off a penalty kick to tie the score at 1-1.  The score remained 1-1 at the half despite the Sailors controlling the ball most of the half. The second half saw the Sailors continue their pressure on the Charger defense with Jaydon Gritters making several outstanding saves to keep the score even throughout most of the half.  The Sailor goalie was equally up to the task keeping the Chargers out of the goal as well despite some opportunities the Chargers had to take the lead.  The Sailors finally broke the tie at the 14:50 mark of the second half to go up 2-1 which ended up being the final score when the horn sounded to end the game.  The Chargers played extremely well despite being down four players due to a science class trip and injuries. The Chargers fall to 5-7-1 on the season.  Despite the loss, the Chargers moves into the second seed position for districts trailing only Calvin Christian in the race for the top seed.  They will take on the Warriors of Western Michigan Christian (6-6-1) for their next match on Saturday (9/24) 12:00 pm at WMC.  The Chargers next home game is on Tuesday night (9/27) versus Fruitport (6-6-1) at 6:45 pm.

9/20 Varsity Soccer - Lightning Strikes at Charger Stadium!! The Chargers hosted the Mountaineers of Zion Christian (9-2) at Charger Stadium Tuesday night but the 6:00 pm start was delayed to 6:47 pm due to some lightning in the sky.  Once the game got started, the first half saw both teams struggle a bit to get their offensive games going as both teams worked hard on defense to keep each other out of the goals for a 0-0 halftime score. The second half saw a completely different game as the Chargers came out of the halftime with two lightning quick goals in the first six minutes of the second half.  The Chargers struck first at the 37:19 mark with a header from Spencer Holstege with the assist coming from Jonny Kuiper to put the Chargers up 1-0.  The Chargers struck quickly again at the 34:49 mark when Zach VanBaren put a header past the Zion goalie to put the Chargers up 2-0.  The assist came from Derek Gritters on a corner kick. The Mountaineers showed why they were a nine win team when they applied some heavy offensive pressure and got on the scoreboard at the 19:18 mark with a strike of their own to make it 2-1.  Both teams continued pressure on the opposing teams' defense with numerous quality shots in the remaining time of the game.  The pressure paid off for the Chargers when they added another goal at the 7:56 mark when Logan Holstege found the back of the net after a beautiful assist from Jaden Bylsma to finish the scoring 3-1. The Chargers improve their season record to 5-6-1 with the win and also improved their district standing in fighting for one of the top two seeds.  The Chargers next game is Thursday night (9/22) at home versus the South Christian Sailors (8-1-2) at 6:45pm  

On September 16, after a week long break, the Chargers found themselves on the road visiting the home of the Unity Christian Crusaders (7-2-2). It was a defensive game in the first half with the lone goal by the Crusaders at the 32:13 mark to take a 1-0 lead into the half. The second half saw the game turn over to the Crusaders in a five minute stretch.  At the 34:16 point of the game Unity took a 2-0 lead with a 15 yard strike from the left side of the goal.  Unity would go on to score two more times in the next five minutes to take a 4-0 lead. The lead stayed that way until the Chargers got on the scoreboard at the 6:15 mark to make it 4-1.  A beautiful assist by Cody Scholten to cousin Carter Scholten gave the Chargers their lone goal of the game. The scoring ended with a Unity goal on a penalty kick at the1:12 mark to make the final score 5-1.  The Chargers fall to 4-6-1 on the season with their next game at home Tuesday night Sept.20 versus the 9-1 Mountaineers of Zion Christian at 6:00 pm.

A Charger Explosion!!! On Saturday 9/10 afternoon the Chargers made the trek north to take on the Lions of Newaygo (4-3) and left 2 hours later with a 9-1 mercy game over the home team. The Chargers got the scoring going early with three goals in the first five minutes of the game.  Carter Scholten put the Chargers on the scoreboard with a goal at the 37:56 mark assisted by Travis Holstege.  The Chargers wasted no time adding to the lead with goals at 35:36 by Caleb Decker with a solid strike from 25 yards out unassisted and Cody Scholten from Travis Holstege at 35:09.   Seven minutes later Carter scored goal #2 with Travis Holstege's third assist at 28:06.  Newaygo countered with their lone goal 4minutes later to make it 4-1.  The Chargers added goals in the 1st half by Aiden Cnossen with an assist by his cousin Derek Gritters (21:31), Tony VanOverloop assisted by Travis Holstege (1:10) and the hat-trick goal by Carter Scholten with an assist by Spencer Holstege to make it 7-1 at the half. The second half found some Chargers playing different positions than normal but still allowed them to finish the game with a mercy.  The two Chargers that scored were Anthony Griess assisted by Travis Holstege (20:24) and Cody Scholten with a double assist by Travis Holstege and Tony VanOverloop(15:53) to make the final score 9-1. Travis Holstege ended the game with 6 assists.

Juniior Varsity CCHS 5.      West Michigan Aviation 0 Another great team effort. The defense played very good. Ryan Kuiper with the shutout. Nate Kerkstra 2 goals - Levi Mahtani 1 goal - Jared Gritters 1 goal - Tyler Gritters 1 goal  Varsity Chargers Tie 2-2 Friday night, September 9,  the Chargers went on the road at the MSA Fieldhouse to take on the Aviators of West Michigan Aviation.  Most of the first half saw both teams getting some quality shots but also receiving some excellent goaltending by both goalies. Zach VanBaren made several outstanding saves to keep the Aviators off the scoreboard in the first half. The Chargers struck first late in the first half when Jonny Kuiper scored on a penalty kick at the 10:18 mark.  The Chargers defense kept the score 1-0 till the half. The second half saw the Chargers strike again with Jonny Kuiper scoring his second goal of the game with a 25 yard penalty strike after an Aviator foul.  The score came at the 35:49 mark in the second half to put the Chargers up 2-0 The lead continued till late in the second half when the Aviators solved the Charger defense  and struck with their first goal with a blast at the 12:11 mark to make it 2-1 Chargers still in the lead.  The Aviators tied the score just a couple of minutes later at 9:37 and withheld a Covenant offensive flurry late in the game to keep it at a 2-2 tie. The Chargers move to 3-5-1 on the season and will take on Newaygo Saturday afternoon at 4:30 at the Newaygo Middle School.

Chargers Win! The Chargers won their first game at home this year with an exciting 3-2 win over the visiting Norsemen of North Muskegon Tuesday night, 9/6.  It was an evening of firsts for the Chargers at the new Chargers Sports Complex. The first ever goal by a Charger in the new stadium was scored by Carter Scholten on an assist by Aiden Cnossen to get the scoring started at the 32:18 mark in the first half.  This gave the Chargers their first ever lead at home. The lead was short lived as the Norsemen countered with two of their own goals at the 26:57 and 13:50 mark in the first half to take the lead at the half 2-1. The Chargers quickly answered to tie the score immediately at the 38:17 mark in the 2nd half to tie the score at 2-2.  On an assist by Aiden Cnossen, Travis Holstege found the back of the net to draw even in the half. The Chargers continued to apply offensive pressure in the 2nd half which paid off with the game winner by Aiden Cossen following a shot/assist by Jonny Kuiper at the 20:27 mark to give the Chargers a hard earned first ever win at home with a 3-2 final. The Chargers move to 3-5 on the season with their next game on the road at West Michigan Aviation Friday night.  

On Wednesday night, August 31, the Chargers traveled to Zeeland East to take on the Chix on their home field.  The first half saw both teams playing stellar defense until the 15 minute mark when Zeeland started the scoring with a corner kick that found itself in the back of the net.  Zeeland then scored about 5 minutes later on a penalty kick to take a 2-0 lead into the half. The score remained the same until the 18 minute mark when Zeeland scored to make the final score 3-0.  The Chargers fall to 2-5 on the season with the loss.     The Chargers return to action next Tuesday at the  Covenant Sports Complex versus North Muskegon with game time at 6:45pm