CKSR (Women's Lacrosse Edges Hope in Holland / Calvin Distance Runners Compete at Hillsdale Gina Relays / Women's Soccer & Track Alum Named Recipient of Knight of Distinction Award)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR APRIL 28, 2016

Women's Lacrosse Edges Hope in Holland;
Calvin Distance Runners Compete at Hillsdale Gina Relays;
Calvin Women's Soccer/Track and Field Alum Named Recipient of Knight of Distinction Award

WOMEN'S LACROSSE
Calvin 8, Hope 7

HOLLAND, Mich. - The Calvin women's lacrosse team edged arch-rival Hope on Thursday night on the road. The Knights came out on top over the Flying Dutch, 8-7. With the victory, Calvin secures the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Tournament next week. Calvin improves to 9-5 on the year and 6-1 in the MIAA, with their fifth-straight victory. Hope falls to 6-5 and 5-2 in the MIAA, the Flying Dutch have now lost two-straight after a five-game win streak.
"Any day you win is a good day," said Calvin head coach Blake Boehm. "It is always hard to play at Hope and every Calvin-Hope game is an emotional game. There are additional pressures that you have to overcome. We won today, but we really felt those pressures and we have to do a better job of handling those next time."
Calvin sophomore Emma Hall (Harare, Zimbabwe/Chisipite HS) got the Knights on the scoreboard first with a shot right in front of the net.
Junior Emily Cefaratti (Hinsdale, Il./Hinsdale Central HS) scored two minutes later for Calvin on a free position shot. Cefaratti would strike again 33 seconds later for her 50th goal of the season.
At the 19:09 mark of the first half, freshman Hannah VanAlst got Hope on the scoreboard on a free position shot.
Sophomore Amanda Davio (Okemos/Okemos HS) would give Calvin a three-goal lead with a goal with 17:37 remaining in the first half.
Emma Hall gave Calvin a 5-2 lead with a goal with 2:58 left. Freshman Lauryn Slachter (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) was given an assist.
Hope cut into the Calvin lead with a goal at the 1:03 mark.
Calvin would go into halftime leading, 5-3.
Webb would score her second goal of the game for Hope with 21:12 left to cut the Calvin lead to 5-4.
The Flying Dutch would tie the game at five with 19:40 left with a goal from Hannah VanAlst.
Calvin freshman Kelly Pepper (Wycoff, NJ/Indian Hills HS) broke the tie with 18:09 remaining on a free position shot.
Lauryn Slachter would push the lead to two for Calvin with a shot in front of the net.
Hope senior Abigale Cassella put the ball in the back of the net with 9:38 to make it a 7-6 game.
Amanda Davio would respond 43 seconds later to push the lead back to two for Calvin.
Hannah VanAlst and the Flying Dutch would not go away quietly however, VanAlst made it a one-goal game with 53.8 seconds remaining on the clock.
Sophomore Madeline Baas (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) would win the draw control for Calvin and the Knights would run out the clock to win 8-7.
Freshman Ellis Chalfant (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis Country Day School) had a strong outing on Thursday with 10 saves in the victory.
The Flying Dutch outshot the Knights, 25-19.
The Knights held the edge in draw controls, 9-6. Madeline Baas had a game-high seven draw controls.
Emily Cefaratti, Amanda Davio and Emma Hall all finished with two goals for Calvin.
The Knights finish the regular season on Saturday at Olivet.

MIAA WOMEN'S LACROSSE STANDINGS THROUGH 4-28-16 GAMES

Albion 7-0
Calvin 5-1
Hope 5-2
Saint Mary's 4-3
Kalamazoo 4-3
Alma 2-5
Adrian 2-5
Trine 1-6
Olivet 0-7

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

HILLSDALE, Mich. - A group of Calvin men's and women's distance runners competed at the Hillsdale Gina Relays on Thursday night.

Highlights on the women's side included:

*Sophomore Marissa McGahan (Brighton/Brighton HS) clocking a career-best time of 12:11.64 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

*Freshman Katie Diekema (Kenmore, Wash./Inglemoor HS) clocking a career-best time of 17:33.56 in the 5,000 meters.

*Junior Hope Gaffner (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) clocking a season-best time of 17:55.08 in the 5,000 meters.

*Sophomore Megan Murray (Greeley, Co./Frontier Academy) running a career-best time of 18:07.29 in the 5,000 meters.

*Sophomore Kate McLain (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian HS) running 18:14.61 in the 5,000 meters.

*Junior Autumn Vonk (Zeeland/Zeeland West HS) running 18:29.69 in the 5,000 meters.

Highlights on the mens' side included:

*Junior Nate VanHaitsma (Olympia, Wash./Olympia HS) running 15:08.56 in the 5,000 meters.

CALVIN C CLUB NEWS

Calvin's C Club organization announces the awarding of the 2016 Knight of Distinction Award to Gretchen Toxopeus Pyles '91, of Amherst, New Hampshire.
Each year C Club, the Calvin College alumni athletic organization, recognizes a former Knight who has served God, church and community with the Christian character that was partly shaped by participation in the athletic program at Calvin College. Previous recipients of this award have been Anthony Diekema '56 and Mark Veenstra '76.
Pyles played soccer for Calvin from 1987-90 and was on the 1988-91 track teams. Women's soccer became a varsity sport her sophomore year and an MIAA sport her junior year and she was an All-MIAA selection in 1989 and 1990. On the track in 1990, she was on a relay team that achieved All-American status.
Gretchen is an attorney and serves as executive director of the New Hampshire Women's Bar Association, which seeks to promote women in the legal profession throughout the state. She is also a trustee of the Amherst Public Library, a member of her church's long-range planning committee and, of course, a soccer and running coach for girls in her town.
"The team aspect of sports is all-important. Being on a team helps you handle success and adversity well," she said. "Everyone on a team has a gift, and together a team can express something that's all for God's glory. It's something that transcends the athletic field."
Pyles will receive the award at the annual C Club Awards Knight in the Van Noord Arena on Thursday, May 12, at 7 p.m.
Received on Fri Apr 29 00:25:04 2016