CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2005 (Part 2)
MEN’S SOCCER
DELAWARE, OH*Calvin shocked Ohio Wesleyan University Saturday evening with a 2-1 victory over the second ranked, and previously undefeated Battling Bishops. The two teams played under the lights at Roy Wright Field in an NCAA III second round tournament game.
Senior Kurtis Visker of Grand Rapids Christian High School tallied twice in the second half as Calvin (17-4-1) advances to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history. The Knights next game will be Friday against the winner of the John Carroll University and Fredonia State match-up tomorrow afternoon.
Calvin, not ranked in the last poll, fell behind in the first half with 6:29 left when Brandon Bianco scored for Ohio Wesleyan (20-1-0) off a pass from Jeff Fisher. The Battling Bishops held constant pressure in the Knights end for the final 15 minutes of the first half, finally converting one of their 16 shots to take the 1-0 lead. Although play was even for the first 30 minutes of play, Calvin was able to muster only six first half shots.
Visker took control in the second half, keeping his Calvin career alive for at least one more game. With 41:16 left in the game, Visker drilled in the back of the net after a lengthy scramble in the box. The play started when senior Matt Cosnek (Hopewell, PA) took the original shot and the ball was knocked around before Visker was able to gather it in to tie the score at 1-1, his ninth goal of the season.
Visker put the upset within reach with his tenth goal when he cranked a shot from the right wing, about 30 feet out, that snuck inside the far post. That goal came with only 13:41 remaining and put Calvin up by the eventual final score of 2-1. Calvin out-shot Ohio Wesleyan 13-3 in the second half, leaving both teams with 19 for the game.
Visker is one of six seniors who start on this Calvin squad, and has been named All-MIAA all four years in his career at Calvin. “The whole team started to believe we could win after that first goal,” Visker said. Of his second goal he remarked, “Coach (Chris Hughes) just told me to shoot if I had a chance. Ohio Wesleyan is a very talented team, and we are excited to be leaving here with a win.”
Coach Hughes credited his seniors with the big victory, “This team is led by a great group of seniors, and we had the confidence that we could win against a top-ranked club like Ohio Wesleyan. I can’t say enough about Kurtis tonight and what he did.”
Hughes said they knew they had a chance during halftime. “We made a few tactical changes at half that really helped, but we were still very much in it.”
Calvin was able to keep Ohio Wesleyan out of the net in the second half, a credit to their defense and goaltending by senior keeper Joe Westra (GR Christian), who made six saves.
VOLLEYBALL
SPRINGFIELD, OH*The Calvin volleyball team saw its great season end Saturday with a loss in the NCAA III Regional Final. Calvin (30-9) fell in three sets, 30-22, 35-33, and 30-22, to host Wittenberg University (32-4). This was Calvin’s first visit to the NCAA III Sweet Sixteen since 1997.
The first game saw Wittenberg, ranked fifth in the latest poll; go on an 8-0 run that evaporated an 8-7 Calvin lead early. Calvin would claw to within 15-12, but never came closer as the Tigers pulled away for an easy victory.
In game two, Calvin led for much of the time, holding its largest margin of three at 13-10 after consecutive kills from seniors Christine Hendricks (Cincinnati, OH) and Katie Schultz (Escondido, CA). The game was tied at 20 different points, including 30-30, 31-31, 32-32, and 33-33. The Knights had three game point chances, but Wittenberg was bale to collect kills on all three.
Game three started off like the previous one, as the teams were tied 15-15. Wittenberg, however, went on a 15-7 run to end the game and defeat the Knights.
Hendricks led Calvin with 11 kills and also had 10 digs. Freshman Lauren DeGroot (Tulare, CA) had 21 digs and sophomore setter Katie Zondervan (Lakewood, CA) dished out 35 assists and had 14 digs. Junior Lorilyn Vogel (Oargange City, IA) collected 10 kills to finish her fine season in which she set the school record for kills. Schultz collected eight kills and nine digs in her final collegiate match. Schultz and Hendricks have both been four-year members of the varsity team.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Nov 12 21:39:41 2005
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Sat Nov 12 2005 - 21:39:41 EST