CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 6, 2010
Women's Soccer Captures MIAA Tournament Title - Gains NCAA III Tourney Bid;
Men's Soccer Gains Share of Final MIAA Title With Victory Over Trine;
Volleyball Falls to Hope In MIAA Tournament Finals
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 3, Alma 1
ALMA - The Calvin women’s soccer team punched its ticket to the NCAA III
Tournament with a 3-1 victory at Alma Saturday afternoon in the MIAA Tournament
championship game. With the win, Calvin gains the league’s automatic bid to the
upcoming NCAA III Tournament with brackets set to be released on Monday
morning. The MIAA Tournament title is Calvin’s third in five years. The Knights
will be making their sixth straight trip to the NCAA III Tournament—all under
the watch of current head coach Mark Recker. The victory was also Calvin’s
second in three years over Alma in the MIAA Tournament finals as the Knights
defeated the Scots 3-0 in the 2008 finals.
Calvin gained early control of Saturday’s title tilt with a burst of offense
late in the first half. Freshman Kelly Koets (Grandville/Calvin Christian HS)
put the Knights on the board in the 27th minute of play, redirecting a cross
into the box by sophomore Francesca Smith (Bloomington, IN/Bloomington South
HS). Less than three minutes later, senior Carly Prins (Hudsonville/Unity
Christian HS) rifled in her team-leading 12th goal of the year, converting an
assist from senior teammate Kellie Honderd (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS).
Just over two minutes late, senior Stephanie Malburg (Grand Rapids/Forest Hills
Northern HS) broke loose on a lead pass from freshman Brittany Hieftje
(Holland/Holland Christian HS) and buried a shot to give the Knights a 3-0
advantage late in the first half.
MIAA regular season champion Alma made a comeback bid in the second half,
scoring a goal four minutes into the second half as Taryn Handyside popped in a
shot off a corner kick taken by Alli Meurer.
Just four minutes later, Calvin was whistled for a foul in the box and the
host Scots (14-5-1) were awarded a penalty kick. Calvin freshman goalkeeper
Ashton Hearn (Port Huron, MI/Port Huron Northern) then came up with one of the
biggest plays of the game however as dove to deflect wide the penalty taken by
Alma’s Carly Reising.
The Knights held steadfast from there to gain their seventh consecutive
victory and improve to 15-2-2 overall.
“I have to credit our team, particularly our senior class for having the
determination to fight back and win this tournament,” said Recker of his team
who saw its five-year reign as MIAA regular season champions ended by Alma this
year as the Scots finished three points ahead of the Knights in the MIAA
regular season standings. “We did not finish where we wanted to in the (MIAA)
regular season but this group was determined to make something happen. I think
a big turning point came in our semifinal win over Kalamazoo on Tuesday when we
fell behind 1-0 at halftime. Our team stepped up, showed character and refused
to let that game slip away. That same determination was evident in our play
this afternoon.”
Calvin finished the game with a 17-9 shots at goal advantage with Hearn making
two saves for the Knights. Calvin outshot Alma 10-5 in the first half with the
strong start a key according to Recker. “When playing on the road, scoring the
first goal is always huge,” said Recker. “After we scored that first goal, our
first half momentum continued to build.”
Recker also offered words of praise for Alma. “Coach Jeff Hosler has built a
fine fine program and they deserved to be MIAA (regular season) champions this
year,” said Recker. “We chased them over the last few weeks of the MIAA season
but they refused to let us catch them. They deserve a great deal of credit for
that and we feel very good to have won today because we know that Alma is a
high quality opponent.”
Monday’s NCAA III Tournament bracket announcement will take place on the
NCAA’s website at: NCAA.Com ( http://www.ncaa.com./ )
MARK RECKER AUDIO INTERVIEW:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/10/women%27soccer/MarkRecker110610.mp3
MEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 2, Trine 0
By sports information student assistant Derek Neice
On Senior Day and playing in their final conference match of the season
Saturday, the Knights came out and defeated Trine 2-0 Saturday afternoon to
claim a share of the MIAA title with Hope. Scoring in the 7th minute to take
the lead, and then adding an insurance goal with 10 minutes left in the match,
Calvin ended its regular season with a bang and now will look for an at-large
bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The NCAA III Tournament bracket will
be announced on Monday.
Calvin (9-2-3 MIAA) shares the MIAA title with Hope (10-4-0 MIAA) which
defeated Olivet 2-0 Saturday with each school finishing with 30 points in
league play. Hope gains the MIAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament by
virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over Calvin.
For Calvin, the MIAA title is its fourth straight including its sixth under
head coach Chris Hughes. It marks the second time a Calvin men’s soccer team
has won four straight MIAA titles. Calvin previously did so from 1976-to-1979.
Kalamazoo is the only other MIAA school to win four consecutive league men’s
soccer titles with the Hornets doing some from 1988-to-1991. No MIAA team has
ever won five straight league crowns.
Calvin finished its 2010 MIAA season with five straight wins after dipping to
4-2-3 in league play after a 2-1 loss to Hope on October 20.
“An MIAA championship is very difficult to get, so consistency is key,” Coach
Hughes said after the win. “It’s a great day, and we will celebrate the
championship today and then hope we get an at-large bid to the NCAAs on
Monday.”
Coming into the day tied with Hope with 27 points in the league standings, the
Knights got right to work against the Thunder, with the first goal coming in
the 7th minute from junior Tyler Vegter (Hudsonville, MI) on a breakaway pass
from senior Brad Heethuis (Jenison, MI). Vegter ran onto the ball while
fighting off a Thunder defender with his body, and coolly finished the ball
into the left side netting for a goal, his 5th of the season.
Ranked 18th nationally, Calvin (15-2-3 overall), created a number of other
opportunities throughout that first half, including a couple of close shots
coming in the final seconds off a free kick and corner kick, but Trine managed
to keep the damage to the lone goal only.
The second half saw a steady amount of chances come around for the Knights
again throughout the half as Calvin looked to add some cushion, and finally
that goal came with only 10 minutes to go [80th minute], when sophomore Joe
Broekhuizen (Grand Rapids, MI) received a nice pass from senior Kurt Van Sickel
(Pittsburgh, PA) and launched his sixth goal of the year past the Thunder
keeper.
The Knights outshot Trine 26-8 over the course of the match, with senior
keeper Ryan Bratt (Silver Spring, MD) making 4 saves en route to another clean
sheet for his record.
Six seniors on Calvin’s roster - Kyle Billin, Ryan Bratt, Scott Hooker, Dan
Kmetz, Kurt Van Sickel and Lucas Wilgenburg - were recognized before the game,
highlighting their major accomplishments over the course of their soccer
career.
“What a great group of seniors,” Hughes said of his veteran group. “They led
us here again, and in the times of trouble they stand up and take care of
business.”
FINAL 2010 MIAA MEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS
Calvin 9-2-3 (30 points)
Hope 10-4-0 (30 points)
Adrian 8-4-2 (26 points)
Olivet 7-6-1 (22 points)
Kalamazoo 7-7-0 (21 points)
Trine 5-8-1 (16 points)
Alma 3-10-1 (10 points)
Albion 3-11-0 (9 points)
CHRIS HUGHES AUDIO INTERVIEW:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/10/Men%27sSoccer/ChrisHughes110610.mp3
VOLLEYBALL
Hope 3, Calvin 0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-14)
By sports information student assistant Mitch Blankespoor
HOLLAND - Calvin’s five-year run as MIAA Tournament champions came to an end
on Saturday as the seventh-ranked Knights were defeated by sixth-ranked Hope in
the MIAA Tournament finals Saturday afternoon 25-14, 25-17, 25-14. Prior to
Saturday, Calvin had won five straight MIAA Tournament titles including a
four-set win at Hope a year ago but on Saturday, the Flying Dutch turned the
tables by limiting Calvin to an .082 hitting percentage while Hope hit at a
blistering .340 clip.
Hope took the lead early and often in all three sets played. The Knights were
down most of the afternoon. Hope got up to a 16-7 lead off of a couple of
kills from Hope senior Kara VandeGuchte (Hamilton). Calvin was forced to call
a timeout in attempt to halt the Hope run. Hope went on the win the first set
25-14.
The second set started positively for the Knights. Junior All American
Rebecca Kamp (Chicago Christian) put down a kill to give the Knights the lead.
Hope then went on the win the next seven points, which forced another Calvin
timeout. Side outs were traded most of the entire set. Hope took the second
set 25-17.
Calvin jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the third set. Hope’s sophomore setter
Greer Bratschie (East Grand Rapids) went on a huge service run however, winning
seven points straight to give the Dutch a 9-5 lead. The Dutch would not be
denied, taking the final set by a similar score of 25-14.
Calvin, the nation’s leading team in attacking percentage coming into the
match, hit only .082. The Knights came in hitting .325 per match. Hope hit
.340 as a team using many special options and quick attacks. Greer Bratschie
dished out 37 assist for Hope while freshmen Megan Rietema (Grand Rapids
Christian) had 19 assists. Hope had five team blocks to Calvin’s three. Hope
scored 41 digs as the Knights had 33.
The real story of the game was the passing off of serve receives. Hope had
seven aces to Calvin’s three. The Hope serve gave the Knights trouble all game
long.
“Give all the credit to Hope. They served very well. We did not pass well
either. When the passing isn’t there, the offense becomes very one-dimensional”
Coach Amber Warners said after the game.
With the win, Hope (26-4) gains the MIAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA III
Tournament while Calvin will await a possible at-large bid. The NCAA III
Tournament field is expected to be announced Monday afternoon.
Received on Sat Nov 6 21:24:29 2010
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