CKSR (Women's Soccer Takes Over MIAA Lead With Dramatic OT Win Over Alma/Volleyball Remains Number-One Ranked Team in Division III)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 8, 2013

Women's Soccer Takes Over MIAA Lead With Dramatic OT Win Over Alma;
Volleyball Remains Number-One Ranked Team in Division III

By Mark DeHaan

The Calvin women's soccer team played host to the Scots of Alma College in a meeting of the top two MIAA teams. Looking to avenge a 3-2 loss in the game at Alma earlier this season, the Knights flipped the script at Zuidema Field, earning a 3-2 win in overtime.

Calvin, recently re-entering the national polls, fell behind early. Freshman Brianna Russell scored in the 13th minute to give the Scots a 1-0 lead.

Just two minutes later, Russell won a head ball in the box off a cross and put it into the back of the net for a 2-0 Alma advantage.

Despite a 2-0 lead for the Scots, the teams were equal in shots at the half with 10 apiece. Calvin held a 5-2 edge in corner kicks.

In the second half, Calvin began to pressure the Alma net, forcing the Scots keeper into a pair of saves.

Finally, in the 71st minute, the Knights broke through.

Collecting the ball off a rebound from a corner kick, senior Danielle Carter (DeWitt/DeWitt HS) rifled a shot from the top of the box that was redirected into the net by freshman Kailey Jo (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS), energizing the Knights and cutting the Alma advantage to 2-1.

Calvin continued to threaten, earning corner kick after corner kick.

In the 87th minute, another corner kick was sent into the box by sophomore Sydney Kinney (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS). Senior Heidi Scholten (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) then headed the ball on to Kailey Jo, who found an opening in the defense and slotted the ball through to tie the game at 2-2, and send it into overtime.

After a scoreless first overtime period, Calvin sealed the deal in the second. Again, it was Jo who found the back of the net. Receiving another flick on from Scholten off a cross by senior Kelly Koets (Grandville/Calvin Christian HS), Jo shot the ball through a scrum of players for her second goal of the game and the game winner, earning Calvin a 3-2 victory in the 107th minute of play.

The Knights held a 25-13 shots advantage and 11-4 corner kicks advantage by the end of the game. Senior keeper Ashton Hearn (Port Huron/Port Huron Northern HS) made six saves in net to earn the win.

"To Alma's credit, they brought a lot of energy that first half, jumped on us, and scored two goals. (At that point), it was gut check time," said head coach Mark Recker. "I told the players that resolve is the key ingredient which separates good teams from great teams. I think today, they showed a lot of resolve."

Calvin moves into first place in the MIAA at 7-1-1 and 10-1-1 overall, while Alma moves to 7-5-0 and 7-2-0 in conference.

Ranked 18th in the Division III National Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll and 21st in the D3soccer.com Top 25 poll, the Knights now look forward to Saturday when they will face Trine at home, with the game starting at noon. Calvin defeated the Thunder earlier this season by a score of 4-0.

MIAA WOMEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 10-8-13

Calvin 7-1-1 (22 points)
Alma 7-2-0 (21 points)
Hope 6-2-1 (19 points)
Adrian 6-3-0 (18 points)
Saint Mary's 3-2-3 (12 points)
Kalamazoo 4-5-0 (12 points)
Olivet 3-6-0 (9 points)
Trine 1-8-0 (3 points)
Albion 0-8-1 (1 point)

NSCAA DIVISION THREE TOP 25 POLL FOR 10-8-13: http://www.nscaatv.com/rankings/2515/NCAADivisionIII/women/National/Poll6
D3SOCCER.COM TOP 25 POLL for 10-8-13: http://d3soccer.com/top25/women/2013/current

VOLLEYBALL

The Calvin women's volleyball team continues to hold the top spot in the AVCA Division III Top 25 poll. The Knights once again received all 48 first place votes in this week's poll. Rival Hope remains the number-two ranked team in the country.

Calvin and Hope will co-host the Midwest Challenge this weekend with four nationally-ranked teams set to face Calvin over the course of the weekend.

On Friday, Calvin will face eighth-ranked Mount Union at 4 p.m. and then meet 13th-ranked Wittenberg at 8 p.m. On Saturday, Calvin will face sixth-ranked Elmhurst at 11 a.m. and then meet 15th-ranked Chicago at 3 p.m. All four matches will be played at Van Noord Arena.

The complete tournament schedule can be found online at: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/womens/volleyball/midwest2013.htm

The AVCA Division III Top 25 poll can be found online at: http://avca.scoutware.net/vb/cgi/viewMail.pl?i=T0816123601_21703935

Calvin is back in action on Wednesday night when it travels to Olivet for a 6:30 p.m. conference match. The match will feature a live audio broadcast at: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/calvin.portal#
Received on Tue Oct 8 23:06:34 2013