Sept. 29-- EAST GRAND RAPIDS, MI The "Beat of the West" is a title that comes along with being the OK Conference champion. Last year's EGR iteration proved true to that moniker by going on to win the Regional title and ultimately losing in the Quarterfinals of the State tournament. The 2025 team is Senior-heavy with 10 players in their final year. Add to that the stellar play of the underclassmen, and the Lady Pioneers established their dominance this season with clear victories against Hudsonville and Spring Lake. A tie at former Division 1 member, Rockford, on their home field and a control-oriented performance that seemed far greater than simply a 2-1 victory at home, confirmed EGR's position as the "Best of the West" again this year. Last night that crowning was declared with a solid 8-0 win over the Hudsonville Eagles. After the opening festivities in which the twelve Seniors in the program were honored for their commitment to the program, their teammates and their own improvement, the team took the field against Hudsonville. Although they had handily beaten Hudsonville in their previous meeting a few weeks ago, any team can win when the game starts anew. So, EGR was not underestimating the opponent who are well-coached and were very eager to spoil the fun. Although the players were still wiping away tears from the emotional send off given them by their teammates and adoring community crowd packing Memorial Stadium in Gaslight Village, the Lady Pioneers side was able to get early pressure on the Lady Eagles. The team drew a few penalty corners in the opening stanza and as true teammates the underclassmen were trying to feed their Senior teammates to make the night even more memorable. It took a few corners initially, but the pressure finally pierced the breach on the Hudsonville goal. Mayi Prado ('26), an exchange student from Spain, knocked home the first of her two goals on the night by sliding from left to right across the circle and finding a way past the pads of the goalkeeper. The team finally capitalized on one of the five offensive penalty corners in the first quarter as Neel van Woudenbergh ('26), an exchange student from Almelo, the Netherlands, knocked home a loose ball that was left unattended by the defense in the circle off of one of those corners. Entering the second quarter, the team set their minds to tilting the field in the home team's advantage by continuing to pound the goalie with shots. It was not until the ninth minute when Lillie Adamy ('26) slid along the baseline, came out front of the goal and with a hesitation step drew a reaction from the goalie and used the opening created to easily slot home the third goal. Another four offensive penalty corners began to wear on the visitors with multiple long wrongs and a tough time defending the onslaught of shots from close range. After the halftime break, the Lady Pioneers seemed rejuvenated and used the third frame to really set their sights on finishing off the Lady Eagles and lay claim to the OK Conference title. Peyton Astrauskas ('27) blasted a an insert from Addi Storrs ('26) from yet another offensive penalty corner past the stunned keeper and Defense from Hudsonville. Just a minute and a half later, Prado scored her second with yet some more fancy stick work in the offensive circle. The team had a comfortable 5-0 lead heading into the final frame with a clearly weary Hudsonville as they had to defend another eight penalty corners. The final frame left one question to be answered: who would join in the scoring? It turns out that it was not any of the Seniors, and after a second goal from both van Woudenbergh, who scored by strongly whipping a shot through a very sharp angle on the baseline after getting a feed from Prado and Lotte Postma ('26), another Dutch exchangee from Epe, the Netherlands, and Astrauskas, who sliced a dynamic shot from a reverse stick sweep high into the Hudsonville net, the scoring was finished off when Toccoa Lepley ('29) drew defenders toward her and used their over-commitment to slap a wicked shot into the far corner of the net out of the reach of the netminder. The final goal, sealing the final result came with a mere ten seconds left in the game. This week is Umpire Appreciation Week and before the match, both Hudsonville and EGR gathered around the referees, Wendy and Mallory, to offer our thanks for their dedication to promoting the game in West Michigan. Additionally, the EGR Field Hockey program honored Mr. Aaron Ditty as the Teacher of the Match. He joined the team on the bench for strategy huddles, cheers and his daughter was able to enjoy the front row seat from the team bench. EGR is off until Friday and Saturday when the program will make its annual Ann Arbor trip. On Friday afternoon, the Varsity team will play against Ann Arbor-Huron River Rats on the University of Michigan Phyllis Ocker Field at 2:30 PM. Then on Saturday, the team will travel to Pinckney to paly against the Pirates on their home field. After this weekend, the team will have on more regular season match as they travel to Bloomfield Hills to take on the Black Hawks before the post-season gets underway later in the week. Congratulate the players and cheer them on to further success as they finish the season and prepare for the playoffs. Go EAST!!