CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 18, 2011
Men's Soccer Headed to National Quarterfinals After Shootout Win Over Redlands;
Men's Basketball Claims Overtime Win Over Grace Bible;
Women's Basketball Rolls To Big Win Over Cincinnati-Clermont
MEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 1, Redlands 1 (Calvin wins penalty kick shootout 5-3)
By Sports Information Student Assistant Andrew Knot
REDLANDS, CA - After a 5-3 shootout victory against host Redlands University,
the Knights advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight.
Sophomore Zach Willis continued his regular season goal-scoring frenzy with an
astoundingly early strike just 24 seconds into the game. Willis took advantage
of an ill-advised pass in the Bulldog back line to put the Knights on the board
first.
The early goal hardly tampered Calvin’s offensive aspirations. The Knights
matched the Bulldogs with six total first half shots.
But Redlands equalized early in the second half. Nick Eary capitalized on
penalty kick to tie the match at one. The rest of the half featured no goals,
but significant chances for both squads. Calvin edged the Bulldogs with a ten
to eight advantage in shots and a 6 to 2 advantage in the corner kick category.
The match entered overtime a 1-1 draw.
Though the Knights were held scoreless in overtime, they dictated the pace of
play and generated numerous opportunities. Senior Brad Heethuis had three
shots on target in the match, including his efforts in the overtime period.
Keeper Michael Dolan ended the second overtime period with six saves in the
game.
The 1-1 tie carried into penalty kicks, where each team scored on their first
three opportunities. But it was the goalkeeper who made the difference.
Sophomore Mirza Haramasic was inserted as the Knights’ goalkeeper during the
shootout. Chris Nance, Tyler Vegter, and Brad Heethuis scored the first three
penalty kick goals for the Knights, who shot first. Joe Broekhuizen finished
the fourth goal for Calvin, and Harambasic made a diving save to his left to
give Calvin the upper hand. Junior Nick Holtrop then buried a shot to clinch
the game for the Knights.
“I thought we deserved the win. We had some good offensive pushes and were
able to take it in PK’s,” said Coach Chris Hughes.
“Mirza does a fantastic job of reading the shot,” Hughes continued. “He made
that one save that we needed. It was a huge boost of confidence for our team.”
Calvin has now won its last five shootout matches in NCAA tournament play. The
win advances the Knights to the Elite Eight for the third consecutive year.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 92, Grace Bible 88 (2OT)
By Sports Information Student Assistant Andrew Knot
In their home opener and the first round of the Tip-Off Tournament, the Knights
sealed a 92-88 double overtime victory over Grace Bible College on Friday
night.
Grace owned a small lead early in the first half but Calvin went on top 32-30
at the buzzer off a fallaway jumper from the baseline. The Knights shot 32.4%
in the first half to Grace’s 29.0%.
The second half introduced some hotter shooting to the game. Ryan Dame opened
the half with a three ball. Moments later, sophomore Mitch Vallie knocked down
a three to regain a 40-39 lead for the Knights. Grace’s Greg Salmon hit a
three from the baseline to tie the game at 42 less than four minutes into the
second half.
Calvin opened up a six point lead midway through the half, but Grace responded
with a five point lead with four minutes to play. The Knights chipped away
before time expired; Tom Snikkers turned around his man in the paint and
converted a lay-in to cut the lead to three. With forty seconds remaining in
regulation, Brian Haverdink found Vallie open on the wing. Vallie stepped up
to drain a three and give the Knights a one point advantage. Grace senior Ryan
Krombeen earned a trip to the line to level the score at 71. The score would
stand that way entering the first overtime period.
The Tigers opened overtime strong by taking a five minute to play. Off a dribble drive, Krombeen lobbed an alley-oop to Dame, who
finished his baseline cut with a two-handed reverse dunk. Grace led 81-76 with
58 seconds to play. But Calvin’s Tom Snikkers took over from there. Snikkers
drained a three from the top of the key to cut Grace’s lead to two. Krombeen
drew another trip to the line and made one off his two free throws.
Down to his last possession, Calvin’s coach Kevin Vande Streek called a timeout
with 14 seconds remaining. Out of the timeout, Snikkers got the ball on the
wing and, with four seconds remaining, uncorked a three to tie the game at 82,
forcing a second overtime period.
In the second overtime, it was Calvin’s turn to take the early lead. With a
one point lead, Snikkers kicked the ball out to Bryan Powell, whose three
pointer gave the Knights a four point advantage. Calvin would hold the lead
from there thanks to some crucial defensive stops. The Knights would escape
with a gritty 92-88 victory.
“I’m really proud of our toughness, mentally and physically,” said Vande Streek
of the performance.
The Knights closed the game shooting 37.5% from the field to Grace’s 42.6%.
Calvin outrebounded the Tigers 56 to 42. Snikkers led the way for the Knights
in scoring with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Vallie and DeVries also tallied
double digit scoring performances with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Dame
had 21 points and seven boards for the Tigers.
The Knights square off against Willamette in the Tip-Off Tourney championship
game tomorrow at 3:00.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 90, U. of Cincinnati-Clermont 38
ANDERSON, IN - Calvin used 14 first half points from senior Courtney Kurncz to
roll to a 90-38 victory over the University of Cincinnati-Clermont Friday night
in a first round game of the Anderson University Tipoff Tournament.
Kurncz finished the game with 16 points and hit 7 of her first 8 shots to
propel the Knights to a 39-21 halftime lead.
Junior Carissa Verkaik led Calvin with 18 points while junior guard Kelsey
Irwin tossed in 12 points off the bench as she was 4 of 5 from three-point
range. Sophomore Shelby Sheehan also chipped in a career-high seven points off
the bench. Senior Jill Thomas also had five assists for the Knights.
The two teams were tied 15-15 midway through the first half when Calvin went on
a 24-6 scoring run to take control of the game.
After connecting on just 2 of 16 from three-point range in a Tuesday night win
at Manchester, Calvin hit 9 of 23 from three-point land Friday night as five
Calvin players hit at least one triple.
"It was a good win," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross. "It was
great to see Courtney get going offensively. She gives our team another gear
when she is an offensive threat. We also got a chance to play everyone tonight.
The goal now is to sustain momentum tomorrow afternoon."
Calvin will play host Anderson Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Received on Sat Nov 19 02:31:52 2011
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