CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 24, 2015
Lacrosse Falls to Centre College;
Women's Basketball Ranked in Final National Polls;
More All-America Honors for Verkaik and Brink
MEN'S LACROSSE
Centre 13, Calvin 1
By Mark DeHaan
Calvin men's lacrosse faced a difficult challenge on Tuesday, hosting Centre College at Zuidema Field.
Centre College was a participant in the 2014 NCAA DIII National Tournament, and on Tuesday, proved to be all the Knights could handle and then some as the Colonels defeated Calvin 13-1.
The Knights played tough for the opening quarter, holding Centre to just two goals.
The Colonels then broke open the game in the second, netting six goals to take an 8-0 lead over Calvin into halftime.
Centre added three in the third, then two more in the fourth before the Knights found the back of the net.
Senior Jonathon VanderLaan scored for Calvin to bring the score to 13-1. VanderLaan's goal proved to be the last one of the game as Centre College claimed the 13-1 win over the Knights.
The Colonels outshot Calvin 39-15 for the game. Sophomore Mitchell Alexander made 14 saves in goal for the Knights.
"We came out and played hard," said Calvin head coach Kyle Hofstaedter. "You have to give Centre credit. They were an NCAA Tournament team last year and they are battle-tested. We just have to keep our nose to the grindstone and keep working to improve."
With the loss, Calvin moves to 2-6 on the season. The Knights now look forward to one final non-conference match-up, against Cornell College in Iowa, before beginning conference play.
Calvin will travel to Cornell College (IA) on Saturday. The game between the Knights and Rams is scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Calvin women's basketball team finished highly ranked in a pair of final season Division III Top 25 polls. In the final WBCA USA Today Sports Division III Top 25 poll Calvin is tied for fifth along with the University of St. Thomas. In the women's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, Calvin is ranked seventh.
The WBCA USA Today Sports Division III Top 25 poll can be found online at: http://www.wbca.org/pages/POLLS_d3_2014-15_032415
The final D3hoops.com Top 25 poll of the year can be found online at: http://d3hoops.com/top25/women/2014-15/final
Calvin finished 30-1 overall and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA III Tournament. Calvin's 30-win campaign marked the first 30-win season in program history.
MORE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin College senior Breanna Verkaik has added another Division III All-America citation to her growing post-season list of awards.
A native of Holland and a graduate of Holland Christian High School, Verkaik was named a second team Division III All-American by Women's DIII News.
The announcement comes on the heels of Verkaik landing a spot on the D3hoops.com All-America fourth team this past weekend. Last week, Verkaik also was named to the WBCA Division III Honorable Mention All-America list.
This year, Verkaik was the 2015 MIAA Most Valuable Player and was a member of the 2015 All-MIAA first team as well as the D3hoops.com Great Lakes All-Region first team. She averaged 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while blocking 38 shots and collecting 38 steals.
She also connected on 48.1 percent of her three-point field goal attempts which leads the nation heading into the final weekend of the NCAA III women's basketball season. Verkaik also shot 86.8 percent from the free throw line.
She helped the Calvin women's basketball team finish 30-1 overall while reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA III Tournament. She also helped the Knights capture MIAA regular season and MIAA Tournament titles.
Verkaik finished her career with 1,067 points to finish 13th on the Calvin career scoring list.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin College senior Jordan Brink has received yet another All-America award. On Monday, Brink was named the 2014-15 DIII News All-America third team.
A native of Dyer, Indiana, Brink was named to the D3hoops.com All-America first team and to the NABC Division III All-America second team last week.
A graduate of Illiana Christian High School, Brink averaged 18.3 points and 5.6 rebounds a game this year while connecting on 89.5 percent of his free throw attempts and 43.6 percent of his three-point field goal attempts.
He concluded his career as Calvin's all-time leader in free throw percentage, converting 92.5 percent of his charity tosses.
He finished eighth on the Calvin career scoring list (1,497) points, fifth in career three-point field goals (208) and fourth in career assists (282).
Earlier this month, he was named the MIAA's Most Valuable Player and landed a spot on the All-MIAA first team.
Received on Tue Mar 24 23:12:07 2015
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