CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 7, 2009
Men's Soccer Moves Into Share of First Place in MIAA Standings With Win Over
Kalamazoo
Women's Cross Country Now Lone Team Ranked Number-One/Men Ranked 15th
MEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 1, Kalamazoo 0
(Written by Calvin Sports Information Student Assistant Derek Neice)
On a chilly Wednesday afternoon at Calvin’s Zuidema Field, the
nationally-ranked Calvin men’s soccer team outlasted a persistent Kalamazoo
squad 1-0.
With the victory, Calvin moved into a tie for first place in the MIAA
standings with Hope at 4-0-1 in league play. Adrian tied Hope on Wednesday
night 1-1. Adrian also tied Calvin 0-0 earlier this year.
On the final box score, Calvin looked dominant in virtually every facet of the
game, but on the field it was a different story against the Hornets. A last
second first half penalty kick by senior Michael Holwerda (Grand Rapids, MI)
put Calvin on the board, and a scoreless second half saw the Knights prevail.
Calvin out-shot the Hornets 20-3 over the course of the match, with an 8-1
shots-on-goal advantage. Kalamazoo’s goalkeeper, senior Ben Schroeder
(Livonia, MI), was the sole reason why the Knights didn’t put more than one
goal into the back of the net, finishing the match with seven saves. Schroeder
even read Holwerda’s penalty shot well, but couldn’t get a glove on the
ball as it scooted past him in the lower left corner of the goal.
“You know, a win is a win and we’ll take it and move to the next game,”
said Coach Hughes after the game. He continued, “Overall I’m happy with
what we did. It started off a bit slow, but it’s nothing we can’t fix.”
Defensive play was again the story of the game for this Knights team as the
strong back line, led by senior Greg Snapper, (Madison, WI), helped preserve
the 1-0 shutout.
“Overall that back line is doing a great job,” said Hughes of his defense,
“with Snapper and Wilgenburg in the insides, and Rushlau is doing the job
when he needs to in goal, so overall I’m very happy with those back-five.”
The first half as a whole was back and forth with much of the battle for the
ball happening in the middle of the field. The Knights had a few offensive
chances but were unable to finish. Calvin’s lone goal came with twenty
seconds left in the half.
Holwerda received a pass outside the box and went on to beat four Hornet
defenders, drawing a whistle from the referee after beating that fourth man.
Holwerda took the penalty shot and drove it low and left, just past the keeper.
That goal plus a scoreless second half was all the Knights needed to win their
ninth game of the year, pushing their MIAA record to 4-0-1.
Coach Hughes put it best when talking about the game today, “We need to be
up by a goal at the end of the game and that’s what the kids did.”
Calvin will certainly look to continue putting shots on goal in future games
as well as maintaining their vicious defense.
The Knights come back to action on Saturday October 10th as they host fellow
MIAA competitor Trine College at Calvin’s Zuidema Field.
MIAA MEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 10-7-09 GAMES
Calvin 4-0-1
Hope 4-0-1
Olivet 2-2-1
Trine 2-2-1
Albion 2-3-0
Kalamazoo 2-3-0
Adrian 1-2-2
Alma 0-5-0
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
For the first time this year, the Calvin women's cross country is alone in the
top spot in the Division III Top 35 rankings released by the United States
Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association.
The Knights received 279 points in this week's poll to move into sole
possession of the top spot. Johns Hopkins (271 points) is now ranked second
after sharing the top spot with Calvin a week ago.
This marks the third week that Calvin has been in the number-one spot in the
national rankings but the first time it has done so alone. Earlier this fall,
the Knights shared the number-one spot for a week with defending national
champion Middlebury.
Calvin is coming off a third place finish in the Gold Division of the Notre
Dame Invitational last weekend.
Meanwhile, the Calvin men's cross country team is ranked 15th in this week's
poll, down seven spots from last week's ranking (8th). Calvin placed 10th in
the Gold Division of the Notre Dame Invitational last week.
North Central remains the top-ranked team in the men's national poll.
Both Calvin cross country teams will host the Michigan Intercollegiates this
Friday at the Gainey Athletic Complex, welcoming in NCAA Division I, II and III
and NAIA institutions from around the state of Michigan. The Michigan
Intercollegiates website can be found at:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/cross-country/miintercollegiates.htm
Calvin currently has five fall sports teams nationally-ranked as the men's
soccer team is ranked 14th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of
America and 16th by D3soccer.com. The Calvin women's soccer team is ranked 23rd
by D3soccer.com while the Calvin women's volleyball team is ranked 11th in the
most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III Top 25 poll.
Division III Men's and Women's Cross Country National/Regional Rankings:
http://www.ustfccca.org/rankings/division-iii-rankings
D3soccer.com Top 25 Men's Soccer Poll:
http://www.d3soccer.com/top25/2009/week-5/mens
NSCAA Division III Men's Top 25 Soccer Poll:
http://www.nscaa.com/seniorRes.php?it=1090
D3soccer.com Top 25 Women's Soccer Poll:
http://www.d3soccer.com/top25/2009/week-5/womens
AVCA Division III Top 25 (Volleyball) Poll:
http://www.avca.org/divisions/division-three-women/top-25-poll-10-6-09/
Received on Wed Oct 7 22:21:30 2009
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Wed Oct 07 2009 - 22:21:30 EDT