CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 28, 2008
Men's Soccer Closes Out Homestand With Win Over Olivet;
Women's Soccer Edges Madonna in Meeting of Ranked Teams;
Five Calvin Fall Sports Teams Now Nationally-Ranked
MEN’SSOCCER
Calvin 4, Olivet 1
Calvin preserved its undefeated conference record with a convincing 4-1 win
over Olivet on Tuesday, extending the Knights’ win streak to 12 games while
completing their season sweep of the fifth-place Comets.
Sophomore Scott Hooker scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season and
dished out two assists to galvanize a Calvin offense marked by erratic scoring
spurts during MIAA play.
“Well we have to be better now,” said Calvin coach Chris Hughes. “It’s
that time of year. It’s nice to score four goals, especially against Olivet,
a good, hard, physical team.”
The No. 21 Knights (14-3-0, 11-0-0), coming off a pair of home victories
against Kalamazoo and Alma last week, closed out their three-game homestand by
tying their highest-scoring league bout of 2008, as Calvin routed the Hornets
back on Sept. 30 by the same score of 4-1.
“It was real nice because we haven’t been scoring too many goals this
year,” said Hooker.
Hooker has more than doubled any of his teammates in total points,
accumulating 25 throughout the Knights’ 17 games this season.
He doled out assists to senior Dan VanSlyke and junior Luke Holtrop on Tuesday
before capping Calvin’s scoring surge, depositing a tactful one-touch in the
upper-left hand corner of Olivet’s net in the 57th minute.
“He brings lots of goals and lots of assists and we’re happy he’s out
there,” said Hughes. “He did a great job for us.”
Calvin jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute when VanSlyke connected on
a one-timer from Hooker at the top of the box - it was VanSlyke’s third
strike of the year.
Sophomore Brad Heethuis responded nearly 10 minutes later, dumping in a
rebound fired by freshman Tyler Vegter just inside the right corner of the
Comets’ box.
“It’s nice to have the feeling that everything’s going right,” said
Hooker.
Holtrop scored only minutes into the second half, fielding a cross from Hooker
and beating Comet goalkeeper Ethan Felsing with a laser from 15 yards out.
Hooker’s goal - Calvin’s final strike of the game - incited a keeper
change for both teams, as the Knights’ Ryan Bratt replaced All-MIAA selection
Darrin Cline in net for the final 25 minutes.
Olivet’s Clay Robinson caught Calvin’s defense off guard just moments
after Cline’s departure, sending a 30-yard line drive past Bratt in the 66th
minute that accounted for the Comets’ lone score.
After Tuesday’s win, the Knights now have a record of 23-1-1 in conference
play since the start of the 2007 season, where Calvin went 12-1-1 en route to
claiming its first MIAA title since 2004.
Calvin will face off against second-place Hope - a team that dropped a pivotal
2-1 decision to Trine on Oct. 25 - on Saturday what promises to be a thrilling
second round of the rivalry match-up. The Knights pulled off a 1-0 victory over
the Flying Dutchmen at Zuidema Field back on Oct. 8, using a goal from junior
Alex McKenzie.
“It’ll be just like every other one - it’ll be tough,” said Hooker of
Saturday’s rematch with Hope. “They’re a real physical team and they’ll
be ready.”
Calvin will then travel to Adrian on Nov. 5 and will host Trine on Nov. 8 to
close out its MIAA schedule.
MIAA MEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 10-28-08
CALVIN 11-0-0 (33 points)
HOPE 9-2-0 (27 points)
ALBION 7-4-0 (21 points)
TRINE 5-5-1 (16 points)
OLIVET 5-6-0 (15 points)
ADRIAN 3-8-0 (9 points)
KALAMAZOO 2-9-0 (6 points)
ALMA 1-9-1 (4 points)
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Calvin 2, Madonna 1
LIVONIA, MI --- In a meeting of nationally-ranked teams, Calvin came out on
top, defeating the host Madonna Crusaders Tuesday afternoon at Greenmead Field.
Madonna came into the game ranked 19th in the latest NAIA Top 25 poll while
Calvin came in ranked fourth in the latest NSCAA Division III Top 25 poll.
Madonna (13-3-0) struck first, scoring on a goal by Ashley Stoychoff in the
18th minute of play.
Calvin responded with scoring power off the bench as junior striker Natalie
Veurink (Spring Lake/Western Michigan Christian HS) was inserted into the game
and promptly delivered the game-tying goal with just over nine minutes left in
the first half, heading in a cross from sophomore teammate Carly Prins
(Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS).
Veurink struck again 15 minutes into the second half, tapping in a cross from
sophomore teammate Elaine Schnabel (Chesterton, IN/Chesterton HS). Veurink now
has eight goals on the year including five in her last two games.
Calvin held a 10-6 shots at goal advantage with junior goalkeepers Alyssa
Bergsma (Walker/Calvin Christian HS) and Kayla Sulzer (St. Charles,
MO/Whitfield HS) splitting time in nets with each keeper collecting one save.
Calvin (14-2-1) will now break until Saturday when it hosts Saint Mary’s at
noon in a first round MIAA Tournament match at Calvin’s Zuidema Field.
FIVE CALVIN TEAMS CRACK NATIONAL RANKINGS
When the men’s soccer team cracked today’s National Soccer Coaches Top 25
Division III rankings, it brought the number of nationally-ranked Calvin fall
sports teams to five.
The men’s soccer team led by head coach Chris Hughes debuts in this week’s
poll ranked 21st. The poll can be found on-line at:
http://www.nscaa.com/seniorRes.php?it=887
Meanwhile the women’s soccer team is ranked fourth in the NSCAA Division III
Top 25 poll for the second consecutive week. The poll can be found on-line at:
http://www.nscaa.com/seniorRes.php?it=893
The Calvin women’s volleyball team also moved up two spots in this week’s
American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III Top 25 poll as the Knights
are ranked 14th in this week’s poll. The poll can be found on-line at:
http://www.avca.org/divisions/division-three-women/poll-8/
The men’s and women’s cross country teams also hold high rankings. The
Calvin women’s team is ranked number-one while the Calvin men’s team is
ranked number-five. The United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches
Association Division III polls can be found on-line at:
http://ustfccca.cstv.com/sports/division3/ustca-division3-body.html
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Tue Oct 28 22:57:13 2008
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