December 7, 2004
Calvin Men's Soccer Players Receive All-Region Honors
GRAND RAPIDS - Four members of Calvin College's 2004 MIAA Championship
men's soccer team have received Great Lakes All-Region honors from the
(NSCAA) National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
The four Calvin players are seniors Joel Veldhouse and Joel Vande Kopple and
juniors Joe Westra and Kurt Visker. All four players were named to the
all-region first team and all four players are now eligible for All-American
consideration. The Division III All-America teams are scheduled to be released
this Friday by the NSCAA.
The Calvin quartet marks the first time in school history that four players
have been named to the all-region team in one year. Also notable is the fact
that three of the four individuals are graduates of Grand Rapids Christian High
School as Westra, Vande Kopple and Visker are former Grand Rapids Christian
Eagles.
Veldhouse is receiving all-region honors for the third straight year and for
the second straight year on the first team. Vande Kopple and Visker are
receiving all-region accolades for the second straight year. Vande Kopple was
a third team all-region selection last fall while Visker was named to the
second team. Westra is receiving all-region honors for the first time in his
career.
Veldhouse is from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and a graduate of Sioux Falls
Christian High School. A midfielder, Veldhouse led the Knights in scoring this
year with 47 points on the strength of 19 goals and nine assists. He was also
named the MIAA's MVP for the second time in the last three years and was
recently voted a CoSIDA Academic All-America for the second consecutive years.
Veldhouse closed out his three-year Calvin career with 49 goals, 26 assists and
124 points, ranking him third on the Calvin career list for points and goals
and fourth in career assists.
Vande Kopple is also a midfielder and has been a starter all four years of his
career. This past season, he scored seven goals and picked up four assists for
a total of 18 points. Of his seven goals, four were game-winners including a
dramatic goal with less than four minutes remaining in regulation that allowed
Calvin to nip rival Hope 1-0 in the regular season finale for both teams. The
Calvin victory allowed the Knights to edge Hope for the outright league crown -
Calvin's first since 1987.
Visker is a defensive back who was a mainstay in a Calvin defense that allowed
just seven goals this year and posted a single-season school record 16 shutout
victories. Visker was also a valuable offensive weapon with his thunderous
shot from the backfield as he picked up two goals and two assists.
Westra was the backbone of Calvin's record-setting defensive group this fall
as he was credited with 14 shutout victories and a goals-against-average of
0.38 - both Calvin single-season records. Westra also collected 72 saves on
the year and was ranked among the nation's top 10 in goals-against-average
near the end of the 2004 season.
Calvin finished the 2004 season with an 18-2-1 overall record, marking the
second-highest single-season win total in Calvin men's soccer history. The
Knights also captured the MIAA title with a 13-1-0 conference record,
establishing a new MIAA record for conference victories in a season. Calvin
also allowed just one goal in 14 conference games, also a new MIAA
single-season record.
With the MIAA title, Calvin advanced to the NCAA III Tournament for the first
time since the 1991 season. The Knights bowed out of the tournament with a 1-0
overtime loss to Wartburg College in the second round. Wartburg later advanced
to the national quarterfinals.
During the season, Calvin was ranked as high as fourth in the Division III
Top-25 poll conducted by the NSCAA and finished 16th in the final national poll
of the year released last week.
Calvin Men's Soccer All-Region Selections Since 1980
1962, Casey TerHaar
1963, Roberto Wolf
1969, Robert Dykstra
1971, Jim Johnson
1972, Jim Johnson
1978, Mark Recker
1979, Mark Recker
1981, Doug DeSmit
1982, Doug DeSmit
1983, Doug DeSmit
1984, Dave Lindner, Ken Lodewyk
1985, Dave Lindner, Randy DeJong, Bert Bowden
1987, Bert Bowden, Mark Hendriks, Dave Fasold
1989, Joe Barone, David Stokes, Ed Wilgenberg
1991, Joe Barone, Todd Veenhuis
1993, Trevor Schuurman
1994, Kevin Sowles
1996, Steve Wiegers
1998, Mark Lindner, Marcus Byeman
1999, Todd Folkert, Marcus Byeman
2000, Marcus Byeman, Jason DeJonge
2002, Joel Veldhouse
2003, Joel Veldhouse, Kurt Visker, Joel Vande Kopple
2004, Joel Veldhouse, Kurt Visker, Joel Vande Kopple, Joe Westra
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Tue Dec 7 13:00:44 2004
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Tue Dec 07 2004 - 13:00:44 EST