WOMEN’S SOCCER
Calvin 1, Chicago 1 (2 OT)
(written by Bruce VanBaren ’09)
GRAND RAPIDS -- In a battle of nationally ranked teams, 16th ranked Calvin
women’s soccer team notched its first tie of the season against 17th ranked
University of Chicago Wednesday at Zuidema Field. Calvin stands at 2-1-1 on the
season and University of Chicago moves to 3-1-1.
“Any time you have a team that is competitive on a national scale and they
come to play you at home you want to play well and I think we did play well,”
said coach Mark Recker. Calvin lost 4-0 against the Maroons a year ago in
Chicago.
University of Chicago striker Olivia Ndyabagye netted her first goal of the
season in the 8th minute to give the Maroons the early lead. Claire Denz found
Ndyabagye after she got two steps on the Calvin defender and fired a shot from
the right side.
Goalkeeper Kayla Sulzer (St. Charles, MO) kept the Knights in the game with
several outstanding plas in the second half. At one point she dove back to her
right to snatch a shot fired at an open goal from six yards out to keep Calvin
within one goal.
Emily Ottenhoff (Palos Heights, IL) tied the game in the 76th minute after
Elizabeth Ribbens (Tinley Park, IL) found her head with a beautiful chip to the
corner of the six-yard box. The goal came after Calvin failed to capitalize on
several golden opportunities in the second half as they controlled play the
majority of the half.
“I think as a team we’re frustrated that we had some great opportunities
that we didn’t capitalize on,” said Recker.
Calvin finished the game with an 11-5 shots at goal advantage. Nevertheless,
Chicago had a handful of dangerous opportunities down the stretch.
Calvin caught a break when the would be game winning shot by Brooke Bontz of
the Maroons hit the post and ricocheted untouched across the goalmouth of an
empty net, preserving the 1-1 tie through regulation.
Calvin carried its offensive momentum into the first overtime period
outshooting Chicago 4-0, but the Maroons stepped up defensively in the second
overtime period as neither team allowed a shot.
“Our speed of play is still very good and opposing teams have trouble
managing when we throw numbers and we throw speed at them,” said Recker.
“Today we learned about playing a disciplined four back defense. Chicago
is a very good strong possession team and their strikers are very good at
receiving, holding and possessing. We learned from that how to challenge
early.”
Calvin didn’t use a single substitution in the first half and only used two
players off the bench in the second half.
“We learned several of our midfielders can go a lot of minutes,” said
Recker. “Overall the personal that we have put on the field is showing they
can compete at a high level.”
Freshman Emma Gormley went the distance in goal for Chicago and recorded three
saves while junior Alyssa Bergsma (Walker/Calvin Christian HS) went the first
half for Calvin with Sulzer playing the second half and overtime for the
Knights.
A photo gallery of the Calvin-Chicago game can be found on-line at:
http://www.calvin.edu/gallery/Home-vs-Chicago-9-10-08
In addition, a post-game interview with Recker can be found on-line at:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/MarkRecker091008.mp3
Calvin will host Farmingdale State College Friday at 4 p.m. and Ohio Northern
University at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Calvin hosts Wheaton College, the number one
team in the nation, next week Wednesday as the Knights continue their five game
homestand.
MEN’S GOLF
BATTLE CREEK - The Calvin men’s golf team had a solid showing at the second
MIAA outing of the year, posting a fourth place score of 309 strokes. The
outing was held Wednesday afternoon at the Bedford Valley Country Club with
Olivet serving as host.
Calvin posted a fourth place team score of 309 strokes. The Knights remain in
fifth place in the overall MIAA standings.
Host Olivet took first place with a team score of 298 strokes with Hope second
at 303 and Trine University third at 304. Albion finished fifth at 310.
Calvin was led individually by sophomore Eric Doezema (Grand Rapids Christian
HS) who fired a round of 76 to finish in a tie for 11th place individually.
Sophomore Jess Hendriksma (Grand Rapids Christian HS) was next with a round of
77 (18th place tie) with junior Jon Kuiper (Grand Rapids Christian HS) and
junior Aaron Hargett (Lakewood-Lake Odessa HS) right behind with rounds of 78
(22nd place tie). Rounding out Calvin’s finishers was junior Kyle Harvey
(Willard, OH) with a score of 84 (34th place).
Albion sophomore Mark McLaughlin once again took medalist honors, recording a
score of 72.
Calvin returns to action on September 16 when it competes at an MIAA outing
hosted by Albion at the Medalist Golf Club.
MIAA MEN’S GOLF OUTING #2 TEAM SCORES
Olivet 298
Hope 303
Trine 304
Calvin 309
Albion 310
Kalamazoo 315
Alma 317
Adrian 323
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS BOTH RANKED NUMBER-TWO
The Calvin men’s and women’s cross country teams are both ranked
number-two in the most recent Division III Top-25 poll of the year. The Calvin
women have moved up two spots from last week’s poll while the Calvin remain
in the number-two spot. Cortland State of New York remains the top-ranked team
in the men’s poll while Amherst (MA) remains the top-ranked teams in the
women’s poll.
This week’s set of national rankings can be found on-line at:
http://ustfccca.cstv.com/ot/c-xc/08-d3national-rankings.htm
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Sep 10 21:04:07 2008
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