CSR (Soccer Teams Come Up With Pivotal Wins over St. Mary's/Kalamazoo)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT for Saturday, October 02, 2004

WOMEN'S SOCCER

In a showdown of first place MIAA teams, it was Calvin College coming out on top. With a 3-1 victory over visiting St. Mary's Saturday afternoon at Calvin Field, the Knights (6-4-1 overall, 5-1-1 MIAA) remain in first place in the league standings.

Heading into Saturday's showdown, Calvin, Hope and St. Mary's were locked in a three-way tie for first place in the MIAA standings. The logjam is now down to a pair of teams as Hope (5-1-1 MIAA) kept pace with Calvin with a 6-0 win over Adrian.

St. Mary's (5-2-1 overall, 4-2-1 MIAA) took the early momentum with a goal by Maria Schoen in the 25th minute that deflected off Calvin junior goaltender Linda Heilman (South Christian HS) and into the net.

With under five minutes left in the first half, Calvin took the momentum right back as sophomore Jill Capel (Unity Christian HS) redirected a corner kick by sophomore Leah Scholten (Unity Christian HS) into the back of the St. Mary's net. It marked the second time in as many games that Capel and Scholten had hooked up for a goal on a corner kick play and it also marked the team-leading 11th goal of the year for Capel.

Calvin kept the pressure on in the second half as sophomore Sarah Weesies (Kalamazoo Christian HS) connected on a nifty give-and-go with Capel and slipped a shot past St. Mary's goalkeeper Laura Heline just 5:08 into the second half. Just over 10 minutes later, Weesies provided the clinching goal as she took a pass from Scholten and ripped a shot over the head of Heline to give the Knights a two-goal lead they would not relinquish.

Calvin finished the match with 14-11 shots at goal advantage with Heilman and Heline collecting four saves apiece. With her pair of assists on Saturday, Scholten moved into a three-way tie for first place in the team statistics as Weesies, Capel and Scholten all have five assists on the year.

Calvin returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Adrian for a 4:00 p.m. match that will complete the first half of the MIAA's double round-robin schedule.

MIAA WOMEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 10-2-04

Calvin 5-1-1 (16 points)
Hope 5-1-1 (16 points)
St. Mary's 4-2-1 (13 points)
Kalamazoo 4-2-1 (13 points)
Olivet 3-3-0 (9 points)
Alma 2-4-1 (7 points)
Adrian 0-6-1 (1 point)
Tri-State 0-6-1 (1 point)

MEN'S SOCCER

(Story written by Josh Miller '05)

KALAMAZOO * Fourth-ranked Calvin College traveled to the hostile environment of Kalamazoo College and remained undefeated on the season with a 1-0 victory. Coming into this match, Calvin (10-0-1 overall, 5-0 MIAA) had not come away from Kalamazoo (3-6 overall, 1-3 MIAA) with a victory since 1999.

Joel Veldhouse (Sioux Falls Christian) scored the match's only goal in the 65th minute when he received a pass from Joel Vande Kopple (Grand Rapids Christian) and volleyed it off a hop just over the goalkeeper's head. Veldhouse has scored ten goals in the last six games, including two hat-tricks.

Calvin won the shooting battle 17-8, but junior Joe Westra (Grand Rapids Christian) turned away a couple of strong opportunities from the Hornets in the second half, having to make two great saves to achieve his eighth shutout of the season and 19th of his collegiate career. Westra's first big save came in the 54th minute of the match as he recovered to make a spectacular kick-save on a rebound shot by Kalamazoo's Evan Wright. In the 71st minute, Westra made a leaping deflection on a header by Kalamazoo's Nick Houdek that appeared destined for the back of the net. Calvin sophomore Nate Kooi (Lynden Christian HS) also came up with a big defensive stop in the second half, clearing a bouncing ball from the goal-line on a shot that had slipped by Westra.

Calvin has now gone 532 minutes and 12 seconds without giving up a goal, dating back to September 14th when Calvin traveled to Ohio Northern six matches ago.

Calvin will host Olivet College this Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. with the internet broadcast beginning at 3:55 p.m.

MIAA MEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 10-2-04

Calvin 5-0-0 (15 points)
Hope 4-0-0 (12 points)
Alma 3-1-0 (9 points)
Adrian 2-2-0 (6 points)
Albion 2-2-0 (6 points)
Kalamazoo 1-3-0 (3 points)
Olivet 0-4-0 (0 points)
Tri-State 0-5-0 (0 points)

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Oct 2 18:45:24 2004