CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 24, 2008
Women's Cross Country Team Ranked Number-One/Men's Team Ranked Number-Two;
Men's Soccer Opens MIAA Campaign With Win Over Britons;
Women's Golf Takes Eighth at MIAA Outing
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
For the first time since 1999, the Calvin women’s cross country team has been
ranked number-one in the Division III Top 25 poll released by the United States
Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association.
The Knights are ranked number-one in this week’s poll, up one spot from last
week’s spot. The Knights have overtaken last year’s national champion – Amherst
(MA) – which had held onto the top spot since last year’s preseason poll.
In addition, the Calvin men’s cross country team is again ranked number-two in
the Division III Top 25 poll with Cortland State of New York retaining its
number-one ranking for the third consecutive poll.
Both polls can be found on-line on the USTCCA web site at:
http://ustfccca.cstv.com/
The Calvin men’s and women’s cross country teams return to action on Friday
when they compete at an MIAA jamboree hosted by Saint Mary’s College.
MEN’S SOCCER
Calvin 2, Albion 0
(written by Calvin sports information assistant Bruce VanBaren)
GRAND RAPIDS -- After an early season scoring drought, Calvin’s offense clicked
into high gear in the second half of the Knights’ conference opener against
Albion Wednesday. Calvin scored twice in the second half against a stingy
Briton defense to notch a 2-0 win at Zuidema Field.
“We needed this first (conference) win - we really did,” said coach Chris
Hughes, whose team won back to back games for the first time this season.
“We’re waiting for that offense to kick in, so any goals right now are
wonderful.”
Calvin (4-3-0 overall, 1-0-0 MIAA) only scored twice in last weekend’s
tournament against Baldwin Wallace and Ohio Northern. One goal was an own goal
and the other came on a penalty kick. This afternoon the Knights outshot the
Britons 15-9 and dominated possession offensively.
“The boys have been working hard and we’ve been trying to find that right
chemistry, and I think we got some of that today,” said Hughes. “At some point
the other team was going to break and luckily they finally broke down.”
Freshman Ahmed Gobana (Burnsville, MN/ Burnsville) broke the scoring drought
not even three minutes into the second half after Calvin out shot Albion 6-3 in
the first half. Gobana cradled a perfectly placed pass over his shoulder from
sophomore Scott Hooker (Hudsonville/Unity Christian) and arched it over Briton
goal keeper Jordan Thomas for his second goal of the season.
“It was very nice to get two goals in my first couple games,” said Gobana.
“He creates a lot for us,” said Hughes. “He’s such a different dynamic than
what Calvin offense typically looks like.”
Hooker added an insurance goal in the 80th minute to put Calvin up 2-0. Senior
A.J. Dufendach (Grand Rapids/Forest Hills Northern) headed a Albion goal kick
inside the circle, placing it right in front of Hooker as he broke towards the
net. Hooker placed a soft shot passed Thomas for his team leading fifth goal of
the year. With his assist he has a team high 14 points on the season. Hooker
tied for the team lead in goals a year ago with nine and the team lead in
points with 25.
“It was definitely a promising second half,” said senior Michael Holwerda
(Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian). “[We were] working on getting the whole
team up together and having our forwards make better runs. That was kind of the
progression of the second half. We broke their defense and found that long
switch-ball, which was open for us today.”
A game after amassing a career high 11 saves against Ohio Northern, senior
goalkeeper Darin Cline (Grandville/Grandville) recorded four saves and picked
up his third shut out in seven games this season.
Twenty-one of the 23 players on the Knights roster played in the game.
Calvin will travel to Alma on Saturday, starting a three-game conference road
trip. The Knights next home game will be October 8 against Hope College.
MIAA MEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 9-24-08
Adrian 1-0
Calvin 1-0
Hope 1-0
Trine 1-0
Albion 0-1
Alma 0-1
Kalamazoo 0-1
Olivet 0-1
WOMEN’S GOLF
ADA – Spurred on a by a season-best performance by junior Kelli Visser, the
Calvin women’s golf team took eighth in a nine-team field Wednesday afternoon
in an MIAA tournament held at the Thornapple Pointe Golf Club.
Calvin served as host of Wednesday’s tournament and posted a team score of 405.
Visser (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) was Calvin’s top finisher with
a season-best round of 85 that left her tied for 12th place individually.
Other Calvin finishers on Wednesday included junior Emily Tuuk (Grand
Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) with a 96, freshman Kelsey Kolk
(Jenison/Unity Christian HS) with a 105 and freshman Katy Berghuis
(Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) with a 119.
Calvin remains in ninth place in the overall team standings.
The Knights return to action next Tuesday when it competes at an MIAA outing
hosted by Adrian at the Lenawee Country Club beginning at 1:00 p.m.
MIAA OUTING #3 TEAM SCORES – AT THORNAPPLE POINTE GOLF CLUB
OLIVET 327
SAINT MARY’S 331
HOPE 333
TRINE 354
ALBION 355
KALAMAZOO 359
ALMA 374
CALVIN 405
ADRIAN 407
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Sep 24 23:21:01 2008
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