CSR (Men's Soccer Edges Wheaton/Volleyball Topples Trine/Women's Soccer Defeats DePauw)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 10, 2010
 
Men's Soccer Wins Wild Affair In Wheaton by 3-2 Score;
Volleyball Rolls to Win Over Trine - Prepares for Showdown With Hope;
Women's Soccer Defeats DePauw 2-0 - Prepares to Face Wheaton Saturday
 
MEN'S SOCCER
 
WHEATON, IL - The top-ranked Calvin men's soccer team survived a wild shootout
at rival Wheaton in front of a standing room only crowd, topping the host
Thunder by a 3-2 score. Calvin used first half goals from senior Kurt Van
Sickel and freshman Zach Willis to build a 2-0 halftime lead but 18th-ranked
Wheaton came roaring back with a pair of second half goals. A score by Calvin
senior Kyle Billin proved to the difference however as the Knights picked up
their third straight win over Wheaton including their second-ever win at
Wheaton's Joe Bean Stadium.
 
"Anytime you can pick up a win at Wheaton, it's huge," said Calvin men's
soccer coach Chris Hughes after the game. "This is one of the most difficult
venues to play at in all of collegiate soccer but our boys were up to the
challenge and I give them a lot of credit. I also thought Wheaton played very
well. They pushed us to the limit."
 
Fueled by the energy of its huge home crowd, Wheaton surged early on,
pressuring the Calvin net and skimming one shot off the crossbar. The Knights
kept their poise however and struck first on a goal by Van Sickel who
redirected a shot into the net off a long throw-in by junior Justin Ahearne
(Hudsonville/Hudsonville HS). The goal by Van Sickel came in the 31st minute of
play. Calvin (3-0-0) continued to possess the ball throughout the latter stages
of the second half and broke through for another goal with just a
minute-and-a-half left on the clock when Willis (Wyoming/Unity Christian HS)
intercepted a loose ball in the Wheaton box and deposited a low hard shot into
the right hand corner for his second goal of the young season.
 
Wheaton (2-1-0) got right back in the game less than five minutes into the
second half when Kolt Martin ripped in a shot off a corner kick taken by
teammate Stephen Mesko to make the score 2-1. In the 62nd minute of play
however, Calvin came up with a critical play as Billin (Hudsonville/Unity
Christian HS) snuck into the box on a long throw-in by junior Tyler Vegter
(Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) and ripped in a header to give the Knights a
3-1 lead.
 
Six minutes later, Wheaton would tally again as Drew Golz was able to move
underneath a crossing pass from Cory Weaver and slip a shot just inside the far
post to bring the Thunder to within a goal.
 
Calvin held off Wheaton down the stretch however, holding the Thunder without
a shot over the final 15 minutes of play to seal the win.
 
Calvin held a 13-10 shots at goal advantage. Senior goalkeeper Ryan Bratt
(Silver Spring, MD/Washington Christian Academy) was credited with the victory
for the Knights in nets.
 
The Knights will now prepare to travel to nearby Naperville, Illinois, for a
Saturday night match at North Central which tied Hope 1-1 Friday night.
Saturday's match between Calvin and North Central is scheduled to begin at 8
p.m. (EST).
 
VOLLEYBALL
 
(written by sports information student assistant Andrew Knot)
 
In their MIAA home opener, the eighth-ranked Calvin Knights served themselves
a three-set victory over conference opponent Trine University on Friday night.

 
Strong serving and sound fundamental play led the Knights to a quick win.
 
The two squads opened the first set trading points until Calvin jumped out to
a 10-6 lead, forcing a Trine timeout early on. Calvin continued to ride their
wave of momentum before Thunder narrowed the deficit to 17-13. This was the
closest Trine would come; however, Calvin quickly composed itself to take the
first set 25-17.
 
Calvin took this impetus to the second set, opening with a 13-2 run, led by
the serving of freshman Megan Rietema. This strong serving rendered the
Thunder completely helpless on offense.
 
Erin VanderPlas closed out the set with a strong kill from the middle to earn
the 24th point and a quick tip put-down on set point. The Knights cruised to a
25-9 victory.
 
The third set was slightly closer, but generally more of the same for the
Knights.
 
After getting down 6-3 early in the set, Coach Amber Warners called a timeout
and collected her team. From then on, the Knights didn’t look back, took a
12-9 lead to force a Trine timeout and then captured a 25-14 victory in the
third set and their second win in MIAA competition.
 
“I thought we played very consistently,” commented Coach Warners.
 
“[Our serving] was the difference in the match. We totally took them out of
their offense with our serving,” continued Coach Warners.
 
For Warners and her team, this successful serving effort was the product of a
concentrated effort to improve that dimension of their game in practice.
 
Sophomore Lizzie Kamp said, “We work on tough consistent serves. Keeping them
out of their system is one of the most important things in volleyball.”
 
“It’s nice to see our hard work in practice paying off,” said Warners.
 
Overall, Warners was impressed with the consistency she saw in her team.
 
“”We played very steady. That shows the emotional stability of the group,”
she said.
 
Statistically, Kamp was a force on offense, with a .857 attacking percentage
on six of seven hitting. Megan Rietema led the Knights with 24 assists and
Kelly Peterson contributed 12 digs for the Knight’s cause.
 
WOMEN'S SOCCER
 
(Written by Sports Information Student Assistant Derek Neice)
 
Calvin upped its record to 4-1 on the year Friday evening early on in the 2010
campaign as the Knights rolled to a 2-0 victory over DePauw University. A
young team with key senior leadership, Calvin has looked composed and has shown
a lot of talent thus far this year, and Friday’s match was no different.
 
The game started out with a major Calvin advantage as the Knights looked to
score early and often. DePauw played on its heels for a large portion of the
first half, but managed to hold Calvin scoreless despite being outshot and out
played in nearly every facet of the game.
 
“Seniors are familiar with the expectations,” Calvin coach Mark Recker said
afterwards, “especially with the pace of play, and when you have the
consistency in terms of level of performance, it’s the best teacher for the
freshmen class.”
 
Calvin did manage to grab a goal late in the half, with just under two minutes
to play, on a nice finish from freshman winger Brittany Hieftje (Holland, MI).
Senior Elaine Schnabel (Chesterton, IN) received a pass and looked to shoot,
but her pass went luckily wide and right to the head of Hieftje, who coolly
headed the ball into the back of the net.
 
“You have to be thrilled with the talent and ability of our incoming freshmen,”
Recker said. “We’ve really thrown them into the fire on defense and each one
of them is stepping up sufficiently.”
 
Calvin held a 16-3 shot advantage at the break, with nine of those shots being
on goal. The second half proved to be a bit more hard fought as the Tigers
held Calvin’s offense at bay for large portions, but the Knights did grab
another goal in the 63rd minute when sophomore Jillian Honderd (Hudsonville,
MI) took a brilliant run down the right wing into the box. After beating
multiple DePauw defenders, Honderd clipped a nice pass across the goal mouth
and senior Stephanie Malburg (Grand Rapids, MI) easily tapped it in for the
second goal.
 
“Every year we talk about efficiency when we have opportunities,” Recker said.
 “You like to convert when the opportunities are there.”
 
“It’s still early and today’s outcome was a real blessing,” Recker continued.
“and today we learned we have to be efficient with opportunities.”
 
Calvin finished the game with a 19-9 shot advantage, again showing their
dominance as the Knights prepare for league play. The next action for Calvin
comes Saturday when they host Wheaton College at 5 p.m. in another showcasing
of two soccer powerhouses.
Received on Fri Sep 10 22:48:50 2010