CSR (Cross Country Teams Capture Regional Titles/Men's Soccer Advances in NCAAs by Way of Penalty Kick Shootout)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 13, 2010 (Part One)
 
Men's and Women's Cross Country Team Capture Great Lakes Regional Titles;
Men's Soccer Advances to Round of 16 With Penalty Kick Shootout Over
Dominican
 
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

HOLLAND, MI - The Calvin women’s cross country team fought off a rugged group
of teams to capture its third consecutive Great Lakes Regional title Saturday
afternoon at the West Ottawa Golf Club. Ranked seventh nationally, Calvin
finished with a first place team score of 69 points in the 6K race,
outdistancing 10th-ranked Hope which took second with 103 points. Both teams
qualify for next week’s NCAA III Championships at Wartburg College in Waverly,
Iowa.
Calvin junior Jodi Hoekstra (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian HS) led the
Knights by placing fourth individually in a time of 21:48. She was one of three
Calvin runners in the top 10 as sophomore Alyssa Penning (Grand Rapids/Grand
Rapids Christian HS) was ninth (22:07) and senior Gretchen Braymer (Alymer,
PA/Collegiate Academy) 10th (22:09).
All seven of Calvin’s runners finished in the top 35 as junior Kaitlin Diemer
(Caledonia/South Christian HS) was 22nd (22:39), senior Samantha Westveer
(Kentwood/East Kentwood HS) 24th (22:42), senior Alison Tuuk (Grand
Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) 27th (22:45) and freshman Alyssa Oram
(Cheboyban, MI/Home Schooled) 35th (22:54).
In finishing in the top 35, all seven Calvin runners earn spots on the Great
Lakes All-Region team.
Joanna Johnson of Oberlin took first place individually in Saturday’s race
with a time of 21:14, winning the race by a three-second margin. Case Western
Reserve, ranked 23rd nationally, took third place with a team score of 115
points while Oberlin was fourth with 149 points and 20th-ranked Ohio Northern
fifth with 152 points.
BRIAN DIEMER AUDIO INTERVIEW:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/10/MensCrossCountry/BrianDiemerRegionalPostRace111310.mp3

AL HOEKSTRA AUDIO INTERVIEW:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/10/MensCrossCountry/AlHoekstraRegionalPostRace111310.mp3

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
HOLLAND, MI—The Calvin men’s cross country team is headed back to the NCAA III
Championships. The fourth-ranked Knights punched their ticket to next week’s
national meet in Waverly, Iowa, with a first place score of 57 points at the
Great Lakes Regional meet hosted by Hope College Saturday at the West Ottawa
Golf Club. The first place performance allowed the Knights to capture the Great
Lakes Regional title for the 15th straight year.
Junior Nick Kramer (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) led the way with a
commanding first place individual finish in a time of 24:57, more than 13
seconds ahead of the next competitor. In taking first place, Kramer repeated as
Great Lakes Regional individual champion.
Kramer was one of five Calvin runners in the top 35 as sophomore Matt
VanderRoest (Ann Arbor/Ann Arbor Huron HS) was 11th (25:26) senior Ben Wyk
(Sussex, NJ/High Point HS) 15th (25:29), senior Alex Wrobel (Arden Hills,
MN/Mounds View HS) 16th (25:29), junior Dan Kerr (Petoskey, MI/Petoskey HS) 18
(25:33), senior Jake Christiansen (New Ipswich, NH/New Ipswich HS) 24th (25:43)
and junior Rhett Morici (St. Charles, IL/St. Charles North HS) in 34th
(25:58).
By finishing in the top 35, all seven Calvin runners earn spots on the Great
Lakes All-Region team. Wabash took second with 122 points to gain the region’s
other automatic qualifying spot for the national meet. The Little Giants are
the last team other than Calvin to win the Great Lakes Regional title, doing so
in 1996. MIAA representative Albion took third with 177 points and is now
eligible for an at-large bid to the national meet with at-large bids scheduled
to be announced November 14.
MEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 1, Dominican 1 (2OT)
By Calvin College Sports Information Student Assistant Derek Neice
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - It’s off to the races yet again for the victorious Calvin
Knights after a thrilling match that went all the way to a penalty shootout
against the Dominican Stars. The Stars got on the board early on in the second
half to take the lead, but Calvin managed to equalize with just under 14
minutes to play and force overtime.
Two scoreless extra periods then went by, and the Knights clinched a bid to
the Round of 16 in penalties as they outscored Dominican 3-1 in that do-or-die
situation, with senior keeper Ryan Bratt (Silver Sprong, MD) making three
monstrous saves to key the win.
A season ago these same two teams faced each other in the National semifinals,
with Calvin emerging victorious late in that contest as well to make the
national finals. Saturday needed similar heroics, and the Knights came from
behind to secure the win.
“He [Bratt] just has a gift, and it gave our shooters an opportunity to clinch
it,” Hughes said of Bratt’s big performance on the goal line. “He reads it and
took care of it and he was just huge again.”
In the first half both teams played defensive soccer, with Calvin leading the
shot column 6-4, but offensive opportunities were certainly limited for both
sides. Dominican did not take long to score once play resumed however as the
Stars immediately got down the field and drew a free kick just outside the
Calvin box. Still only 31 seconds into the half [46th minute], Dominican’s
Michael Kapusta (Bartlett, IL) would put that set piece ball into the back of
the net for his team leading 15th goal of the season on a deflection off the
Calvin wall.
Trailing for the first time in the game then, the Knights went into a much
more aggressive mode, and the offense took over for the remainder of the
match.
The equalizer came in the 77th minute off the head of Miles Colago (Anoka,
MN), after Colago forced a throw-in for the Knights deep in Dominican
territory. Calvin’s Mike Sanderson (Grand Rapids, MI) threw a long ball into
the Stars’ box, and Colago got his head to the ball, flicking it past the
keeper and into the net, his 4th goal of the year.
“The sign of a good team is being able to battle back from adversity and find
that tying goal,” Hughes said of the come from behind win. “Dominican is just
a phenomenal program and so we’re just happy to come away with the win.”
Time would run out with Calvin still largely controlling the game, and both
overtime periods would also pass without a winning goal.
In penalties, Dominican shot first, with Kapusta getting first blood on a
close shot to the corner that Bratt barely missed on saving. Calvin’s Scott
Hooker (Hudsonville, MI) then went up and was stuffed by Dominican’s Maxwell
Gutbrod (Slinger, WI) to put Calvin behind 1-0. Bratt then came up huge
against Dominican’s Jeff Atkins (Naperville, IL) on a save that hit his hands
and then the crossbar, barely not finding the net. Calvin’s Dan Kmetz
(Strongsville, OH) then buried a shot to know the score at 1-1.
Bratt read Ryan Roberts (Elmhurst, IL) of the Stars on the next shot and made
an easy-looking save to swing momentum back towards the Knights, and Tyler
Vegter (Hudsonville, MI) subsequently put Calvin ahead with a score. Bratt
then made his third save of the shootout on Dominican’s Andy Lynch (Hawthorn
Woods, IL), and Calvin’s Joe Broekhuizen (Grand Rapids, MI) clinched the win
with the Knights’ third score.
“We’re going to focus on the next game now moving forward and the guys are
excited,” Hughes concluded.
The Knights will wait to see where they will end up next for the round of 16.
Those next games will take place next weekend.
 
Received on Sat Nov 13 22:14:45 2010