CSR (Men's Soccer Clipped by Hope/Cross Country Teams Move Up in National Rankings)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 30, 2010
Men's Soccer Clipped by Hope;
Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams Move Up in National Rankings

MEN'S SOCCER
Hope 2, Calvin 1
By Sports Information Student Assistant Derek Neice
For the second time this season the Flying Dutch of Hope stunned Calvin with
late game heroics as the Knights fell at home 2-1 Wednesday afternoon in
another intense rivalry match. Calvin would score early on in the game and
take the lead into the second half, but Hope rallied with two goals to defeat
the Knights again for the third straight contest between the two rivals.
Looking back to earlier this season on September 25th in Holland, the Knights
were undefeated and ranked #1 in the nation coming in to face the Dutch. With
a tie game close to end of regulation, Hope would score a late goal to win 2-1
in that match and end Calvin’s 2010 undefeated streak. Wednesday proved to be
eerily similar as Calvin controlled the pace of the game but was unable to
convert the opportunities it had.
“We did a real good job a majority of the game, but Hope’s an opportunistic
team,” Coach Hughes said. “One thing I do know is that the season is not done
and we fight forward.”
Calvin’s Brad Heethuis (Jenison, MI) opened the scoring in the 15th minute on
a shot that had Heethuis’ leg parallel with the ground as he struck the ball
into the bottom corner of the net, his 5th goal of the year. Tyler Vegter
(Hudsonville, MI) sent the ball in from outside the box to assist Heethuis on
the goal.
The Knights saw a couple more chances nearly come to fruition in the first
half but settled for the lone goal lead going into halftime.
The second half started out well again for the Knights, but Hope took full
advantage of any opportunity, starting in the 60th minute when Jeffrey Stusick
(Stevensville, MI) found Andrew Nichols (Traverse City, MI) for the equalizer,
Nichols 4th goal of the season.
All roads pointed to overtime as the match started to wound down, but in the
83rd minute Hope silenced the crowd completely with a headed goal from John
Turner (Kentwood, MI) after Calvin was unable to clear the danger.
“It’s always hard on the seniors for sure, but I definitely think our guys
played well and it was a hard-fought game,” Hughes concluded.
“There were battles all over the field and a very physical game,” Hughes said
of the physicality. Calvin outshot the Dutch 17-15, and the Knights were
whistled for a nearly unreal 18 fouls to Hope’s 10. Over the last four years
Calvin is 3-4-3 against Hope, with losses in the past three matches played.
Calvin pressed very well in the final minutes, with the closest chances coming
from a pair of Lucas Wilgenburg (Visalia, CA) headers in the final ten minutes
that both deflected off the crossbar. Hope would lock things down on defense
to close out the game thereafter.
The loss drops the Knights to 10-2-3 season, 4-2-3 in the MIAA. Hope improves
to 8-5-2, 5-4 in the MIAA.
“We need three points [wins] from here on out, so we need to move on from here
and look to our next game,” Hughes concluded.
Calvin returns to the field this Saturday when it hosts Kalamazoo, which
currently sits atop the conference standings.
MIAA MEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 10-20-10 GAMES
Kalamazoo 6-3-0 (18 points)
Adrian 5-2-2 (17 points)
Olivet 5-3-1 (16 points)
Calvin 4-2-3 (15 points)
Hope 5-4-0 (15 points)
Trine 4-4-1 (13 points)
Albion 2-7-0 (6 points)
Alma 1-7-1 (4 points)
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
For the first time this year, the Calvin men's cross country team has moved
into the top-four of the Division III Top 25 Coaches' Poll. The Knights are
ranked fourth in this week's poll, up four spots from a week ago. This past
weekend, the Calvin men's cross country team turned in an impressive second
place finish at the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational.
On the women's side, Calvin is ranked eighth, up two spots from a week ago.
The Calvin women's cross country team is coming off a fourth place finish at
the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational last weekend.
Both Calvin cross country teams are preparing to host the MIAA Championships
October 30 at Calvin's Gainey Athletic Complex. The MIAA Cross Country
Championships site can be found online at:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/cross-country/miaachampionships2010.htm
US Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Poll:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/cross-country/Div3_XC_2010_Week-By-Week-ByRank.pdf
Received on Wed Oct 20 22:44:51 2010