March 1, 2004 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Calvin Hockey Team Headed to National Tournament
GRAND RAPIDS - The Calvin men's club ice hockey team is preparing for its
trip to the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division III National
Tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona which will be held Thursday through
Saturday.
Heading into the tournament, the Knights are 25-1 overall and seeded
number-one for the 16-team tournament slated to be held at the Alltell Ice Den
- the practice facility of the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes.
Under the leadership of head coach Mike Petrusma, the Knights will take on the
University of Richmond, the tournament's 16th-seeded team, in a first round
game Thursday March 3 at 7:10 a.m. (PCT) Yes, that's correct, 7:10 a.m. Also
included in the tournament field is Hope College with the Flying Dutchmen
scheduled to play Florida Gulf Coast College later Thursday morning. Earlier
in the year, Calvin and Hope met four times with Hope handing Calvin its only
defeat of the year with the Knights claiming the other three victories. The
two rivals could meet again but it would most likely not be until one of the
final two rounds.
Calvin also recently captured the Midwest College Hockey Conference title with
an unblemished regular season record. Four members of the Calvin team were
named to the all-conference first team as senior Elijah DeGroot, junior Aaron
Okkema and sophomores Nick VerKuyl and Max Sieplinga were all so honored. A
graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School, Sieplinga was also named the
conference Most Valuable Player for the second straight year after leading the
league with 39 points.
A year ago, Calvin took third at the ACHA Division III National Tournament
which was held in nearby Muskegon.
Calvin also placed third at the 2003 ACHA Division III National Tournament
held in Albany, New York.
A complete schedule of the ACHA Division III Tournament can be found at:
http://www.asuhockey.net/tournament/results.cfm
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Mon Mar 1 15:41:26 2004
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