CSR (Men's Soccer Falls to Messiah in National Title Game/Weekend BBall & Swimming Recaps)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 5, 2009

Men's Soccer Falls to Messiah in National Title Game;
Verkaik Scores 39, Boards 23 in Women's Basketball Victory;
Men's Basketball Falls to Wheaton in CCIW/MIAA Classic;
Calvin Winter Invitational Concludes

MEN'S SOCCER
Messiah 2, Calvin 0

SAN ANTONIO, TX - The Calvin men’s soccer team’s quest for a national
title came up one game short as the Knights were defeated by defending national
champion Messiah (PA) 2-0 Saturday night in the NCAA III Championship final.

Messiah pressured early and scored in the 16th minute of play on a long
throw-in into the box that was headed in by Messiah’s Danny Thompson.

Calvin nearly tied the game in the opening moments of the second half with a
quick flurry of shots by senior Luke Holtrop that were turned back by the
Messiah defense. Holtrop's first shot was blocked and his second - a volley
from 25 yards out - was cleared off the back line by a Messiah defender.
Holtrop then got his foot on a rebound in the box and had a second shot cleared
off the backline by a Messiah defender.

Moments later, Messiah struck back with a counterattack with a striker taken
down in the Calvin box. The Falcons were subsequently awarded a penalty kick
and made good on the opportunity with Nick Thompson banging in the PK.

"In a game like this you have to expect the intensity that Messiah brought to
this game in the first 20 minutes," said Calvin head coach Chris Hughes. "We
had an opportunity or two there early in the second half that could have
changed momentum but it didn't quite go our way. It was a great game and
Messiah is a great team."

Despite falling behind 2-0, Calvin continued to fight hard over the final 40
minutes of play. "When Messiah scored on the penalty kick, it would have been
easy to pack it in and quit but our team kept fighting hard and played a great
game over the final 40 minutes," said Calvin senior Michael Holwerda. "I was
proud of our team for playing hard to the very end."

Messiah finished the game with nine shots to Calvin’s eight. Junior
goalkeeper Ryan Bratt had two saves for Calvin while Ryan Clugston had one save
for top-ranked Messiah which finishes the season with a 24-1-0 record while
capturing its sixth national title in the last eight years.

The Knights conclude the season with an overall record of 18-5-3, advancing
further in the NCAA III Tournament than any soccer team in MIAA history. Calvin
also landed three players on the NCAA III Final Four all-tournament team as
senior Luke Holtrop and juniors Lucas Wilgenberg and Dan Kmetz were so honored.
Clugston was named the Final Four Most Valuable Defensive Player while
Messiah's Geoff Pezon was named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Offensive
Player.

Saturday's game also concluded the careers of Calvin seniors Michael Holwerda,
Greg Snapper, Luke Holtrop and Alex McKenzie. "This group of seniors have
carried our team this year with their leadership," said Hughes. "The difficult
thing as a college coach is that your players graduate and you have to say
good-bye. The wonderful thing about that is that you see players come in as
boys and leave as men. This senior class made history with this team and will
forever be etched in my heart."

The second place finish marked the best-ever finish by an MIAA soccer team and
marked the second time a league school had reached the NCAA III Final Four with
Alma also achieving the feat in 1999. Alma's 1999 team was coached by Scott
Frey. Frey was present on Saturday in San Antonio as he now coaches the Messiah
women's soccer team. Frey helped Messiah pull off a double nastional title
performance with his women's team defeating Washington University 1-0 Saturday
afternoon.

Saturday's championship game also featured a meeting of CCCU (Council for
Christian Colleges and Universities) institutions. At the conclusion of
Saturday's championship final, both teams gathered together in a circle for
prayer.

Calvin's national runner-up finish is the 14th national runner-up finish by a
Calvin varsity sports team. It also marks the third top-four national finish by
an MIAA team this year as the Calvin women's cross country team recently
finished third at the NCAA III Championships while the Hope women's volleyball
team also took third at the NCAA III Championships.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 81, Purdue Calumet 73

HAMMOND, IN -- Calvin College freshman Carissa Verkaik put together one of the
finest single-game performances in Calvin women's basketball history Saturday
evening in leading the Knights to an 81-73 victory at Purdue Calumet
University.

The Holland Christian High School graduate poured in 39 points, grabbed 23
rebounds and blocked five shots. Verkaik was 15 of 24 from the floor, connected
on her only three-point field goal attempt and swished 8 of 10 from the free
throw line.

Verkaik finished just one point shy of matching the single-game Calvin scoring
record, three rebounds shy of matching the Calvin single-game rebounding record
and two field goals shy of matching the Calvin single-game field goal mark.
Eileen Boonstra share the Calvin single-game scoring record with 40 points with
Boonstra holding Calvin single-game marks for rebounds (26) and field goals
(17).

Verkaik led a powerful post contingent for Calvin as freshman Julia Hilbrands
(Grand Rapids Christian HS) scored a career-high 10 points off the bench while
senior Emily Ottenhoff (Palos Heights, IL/Chicago Christian HS) also had 10
points in a reserve role including a pair of three-pointers. Senior power
forward Brook Van Eck (Lowell HS) also had eight points and 12 rebounds.

Calvin outrebounded Purdue Calumet 61-35 but the host Peregrines (4-6) were
able to hang in the game due to the Knights committing 30 turnovers. Calvin led
40-30 at halftime and stretched its lead to 20 points at 57-37 five minutes
into the second half.

Purdue Calumet refused to fold and cut the gap down to just six points at
77-71 with just 1:04 remaining but the Knights (7-1) were able to seal the win
with two free throws from Ottenhoff and two more from Verkaik inside the final
minute of play.

Purdue Calumet was led by Stephaine Beck with 19 points while Jennifer Britton
had 17 points.

Calvin will now prepare for its MIAA opener on Wednesday when the Knights host
Saint Mary's at 7:30 p.m. at Van Noord Arena. The game will feature a rematch
of last year's MIAA Tournament semifinals that was won by Saint Mary's.

MEN'S BASKETBALL
(written by Brad Draayer)

HOLLAND- A mere 17 hours after leaving the court on Friday the Knights
returned to Holland to take on the sixth ranked Thunder from Wheaton. Despite a
very evenly matched game, Calvin (2-4) came up short against Wheaton (5-1)
falling by a score of 74-69.

Both teams began the first 10 minutes with a field goal percentage just above
the 25 degree temperature outside. After both teams warmed up heading into
halftime but the Knights found themselves trailing 33-30 at half.

Wheaton’s offensive attack proved to be too much for the Knights as they
shot a Thunderous 11-21 (52.4%) from behind the arc. Ben Panner from Wheaton
led all scorers with 29 points, also aided by 19 points from Andrew Jahns who
was 6-8 from downtown.

Calvin was lead in scoring by senior John Mantel with 21 points who picked up
right where he left off last night scoring the first five points of the game
for the Knights. Junior Danny Rodts finished 12 points while Paul Campbell had
a career-high 9 points. They were just 3 of 10 Knights that contributed on the
scoreboard for the Knights on Saturday afternoon.

Both coaches pointed out the evenness of the game in post game interviews.
Coach Vande Streek called it a “Physical battle with both teams playing very
intense basketball” with the difference being the hot streak Panner and Jahns
got on in the second half.

Vande Streek was still pleased with the effort this weekend, “ The loss is
disappointing but I’m pleased with the weekend and we have improved a lot
this week” He especially pointed out the play of freshman Bryan Powell and
Tom Snikkers who was put in the starting line-up for the first time this
weekend. “I’m very excited about those guys and the progress that they are
making.”

Both teams finished an even 50% (24-48) from the floor with Calvin at 40% on
3’s while Wheaton was at 52.4% from behind the arc.

Wheaton now leads the all time series 28-23, and the Knights are now 5-7 in
the six years of the MIAA/CCIW challenge.

Calvin returns to action next Thursday against Aquinas in a home match
scheduled to begin at 7:30pm

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

The Calvin men's and women's swimming and diving teams concluded action at
their own Calvin Winter Invitational on Saturday. The Calvin men's team took
fourth with 456 points with the women's team placing third with 379 points.
Grand Valley State won both meets with the men taking first with 1,392.5 points
and the women taking first with 1,118 points.

Full results can be found at:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/swimming/results0910/FullMeetResults.htm

A meet recap will be sent out later this weekend.
Received on Sun Dec 6 00:05:17 2009