CKSR (Calvin Knight Sports Wrap For March 18, 2017)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 17, 2017

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Calvin's Van Noord Arena will be the site of the 2017 NCAA III Championship game Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. Amherst (32-0) will face conference rival Tufts (30-2) in the title tilt. Tickets will be available at the door.

On Friday, Amherst defeated Christopher Newport 66-51 in a national semifinal at Van Noord Arena while Tufts pulled off a come-from-behind 60-57 win over St. Thomas.

A recap of the Tufts/St. Thomas game can be found online at: http://calvinknights.com/general/2016-17/releases/20170317zprr4h
A recap of the Amerst/Christopher Newport game can be found online at: http://calvinknights.com/general/2016-17/releases/201703180sitet

ICE HOCKEY

By Gina de Haan
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Calvin men's hockey team punched its ticket to the 2017 ACHA Division III National Championship, coming back in the third period to defeat Florida Gulf Coast University 3-2 on Friday night. On Saturday night, the Knights will meet a familiar opponent, Michigan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC) rival Aquinas College (33-5-1), who defeated Bryn Athyn in the other semifinal by a score of 4-2.
Both the Eagles and Knights entered the semifinal matchup undefeated in pool play, Calvin as the number-one seed overall and in the North Region and FGCU the number-one seed in the South Region.
The Eagles earned wins over Adrian College, Southern Connecticut State and Marquette University to advance to the semifinals before their season was ended by the Knights.
"Our team refuses to quit," said head men's hockey coach Mike Petrusma. "Despite outshooting and out chancing FGCU all night, we found ourselves down 2-1 with seven minutes left. The boys battled through the challenge."
The Knights got on the board first just after the 10-minute mark when sophomore Keegan Weckesser (East Lansing, Mich./Lansing Capitals NAPHL) scored from Nick Hirst (Waterloo, Ont./Waterloo Siskins GOJHL) and Frank Moreschi (Malden, Mass./St. Thomas More School D1 NE Prep).
Calvin held the Eagles scoreless for nearly the entire first period, but lapsed with 42.1 seconds left in the first period when Vince Dinunzio capitalized off the rebound of Colin Malone's initial shot. Heading into the first intermission, the teams were knotted at one.
Neither team found the back of the net in the second period, despite numerous Calvin scoring opportunities.
As the midpoint of the period neared, the Knights had a flurry of chances, but were unable to put the puck past FGCU goaltender Jared Burch. With 9:54 left in the second period, Austin Huizenga (Grand Rapids, Mich./Listowel Cyclones GOJHL) was called for the first penalty of the game. Despite having the man-advantage, FGCU was unable to convert its chances into goals.
FGCU nearly scored another goal late in the period, but Malone's attempt with just under two minutes on the clock was denied by Calvin goaltender Alex Gross (Fort Worth, Texas/Northern Cyclones EHL).
The Eagles pulled ahead with 9:49 into the final period off a goal by Brett Sutton.
The Knights maintained their composure and showed resilience as senior captains Austin Kath (Milwaukee, Wis./Milwaukee Jr. Admirals T1EHL) and Cameron Bell stepped up.
With 6:31 remaining, Hirst fed Kath in the high slot and he buried the shot to tie the game at two. Shortly after the tying goal, the Eagles called timeout.
Despite the attempt to break up Calvin's momentum, the Knights continued to pour on the offensive pressure, and their efforts were rewarded with just under three minutes to play when Bell roofed the puck into FGCU's net. Keenan Kennedy (Barrie, Ont./Espanola Express NOJHL) earned the assist on the game-winning goal.
The Eagles attempted to even the score by pulling their goaltender with just over a minute to play. However, after coincidental penalties resulting in four-on-four hockey, Burch returned to his net.
Once the Eagles had a faceoff opportunity in Calvin's zone, Burch came off again for the extra attacker. FGCU won the faceoff, but was unable to capitalize as the Knights tied the puck up along the end boards until time expired.
Calvin outshot FGCU 45-26 in the victory, scoring three goals against a team that had only given up four goals in its three pool play matches. Gross recorded 24 saves on the night. Through four games, Gross boasts a .962 save percentage and 1.26 GAA on 101 shots faced.
Tomorrow's championship game will mark the third meeting of the season between the two West Michigan teams. In early February, the Knights and Saints battled for the MCHC West Division crown in a two-game series. Calvin clinched its second consecutive conference championship in the first game, taking a 4-3 road win over Aquinas. In the return matchup, the Saints handed the Knights their first home loss of the season with a 4-2 win.
In early March, the Saints claimed the defeated Michigan State University 6-3 in the post-season conference tournament finals to claim the MCHC Vezina Cup.
Last season, the Saints knocked the Knights out the national tournament in the semifinals, but fell in the championship game. This year, Aquinas is the number-three seed in the North Region.
"We are looking forward to tomorrow's national championship game against Aquinas," said Petrusma. "It seems funny that the championship comes down to two colleges less than five miles apart.'

WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

SHENANDOAH, Texas - The Knights earned points for the third-straight day at the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships. Calvin heads into the final day of competition in 11th place with 69 points, Emory has a commanding lead with 471.5 points.
"A tremendous effort by the women," said head coach Dan Gelderloos. "They put up some really low numbers in the morning heats that held strong through the evening heat. Madelyn Smith and Kendall Murphy were the stars of the relay with the biggest time drops of the four. Sarah Bradley also fought hard all afternoon and earned a 15th place finish to score some points for the team."
The Maroon and Gold started the day breaking the school record in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The team of sophomore Madelyn Smith (Allegan, Mich./, sophomore Anna Serino (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney), sophomore Kendall Murphy (Modesto, Calif.) and, junior Abby Van Harn (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) had the fastest time in the morning session at 7:28.72. The previous school record was set in 2016 at 7:31.21. The Knights finished sixth overall, earning All-America honors.
Junior Sarah Bradley (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) tallied a 15th-place finish at 341.55 points. Earning All-America honorable mention honors.
The Knights close the season on Saturday for the final day of the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships.

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

SHENENDOAH, Texas - The Calvin men's swimming & diving team competed at the NCAA Division III Championships on Friday. The Knights had two swimmers compete on Friday.
"Watching Brett swim his last race brought tears to my eyes," said Dan Gelderloos. "The emotion he showed after the race was special. A true Calvin man finished his career today. Ben executed the game plan and swam with heart. His time was a bit off his best, but he should be proud of attacking the race the way he did."
Senior Brett Stoughton (Centerville, Ind./Centerville) clocked in a time of 1:52.72 in the 200-yard butterfly to finish 29th.
In the 100-yard backstroke, sophomore Ben Holstege (Keswick, Va./Covenant) touched the wall at 50.18, in 23rd place.
The Knights close the season on Saturday for the final day of the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships.

MEN'S LACROSSE
Calvin 21, Northland College 10

By Gina de Haan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin men's lacrosse claimed a 21-10 victory over the Lumberjacks of Northland College on Friday afternoon.
With the win, the Knights improve to 2-3 on the season while Northland falls to 2-4.
Behind back-to-back goals by sophomore Max Foster (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice), the Knights jumped out to a 2-0. Six minutes into the first period, Northland's Andrew Henderson put the Lumberjacks on the board, but Foster responded for the Knights, scoring unassisted to complete his hat trick. Senior Joel Schaefer (Clarksville, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) followed with another unassisted Calvin goal, making the score 4-1.
Henderson scored again for Northland, but Calvin answered with two more goals, courtesy of junior Michael Winkler (La Quinta, Calif./Palm Desert) and Foster.
Calvin outscored the Lumberjacks 8-3 in the second quarter to pull away. Freshman Griffin Sparling (Novi, Mich./Novi) opened the quarter with two straight goals and senior Chris Griffin (Hartland, Mich./Hartland) added a third, giving the Knights a seven-goal lead.
After a Northland goal, freshman Andrew Gortsema (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) scored on the man-advantage opportunity and Winkler scored again. In the final four minutes of the quarter, sophomore Austin Bontreger (Fishers, Ind./Heritage Christian) scored three unassisted goals to give Calvin a 14-5 halftime advantage.
Scoring was more balanced in the second half, as Calvin outscored the Lumberjacks 7-5. Schaefer, Griffin, Foster and Winkler each added one goal apiece to kick off the half. With 6:29 remaining in the third quarter, Gortsema netted another goal.
The Lumberjacks scored three straight goals, one late in the third quarter and two in the fourth, but Calvin closed out the game with the final two goals. With 6:08 remaining, Winkler earned his fourth goal of the afternoon, and in the final minute of play, Max Foster scored his sixth.
Calvin finished with a 41-26 shots advantage and a 38-16 ground ball advantage.
Foster led the Knights' offense with six goals on seven shots. Winkler followed with four goals while Bontreger also posted a hat trick. Griffin led the Knights with five assists, also adding a pair of goals.
Freshman goalie Mitchell Caldwell (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) recorded five saves in the win.
"We had a great week of practice and it was very satisfying to come out on top with a win this afternoon," said Calvin men's lacrosse coach Dave Hoger. "Our team is really starting to come together and I like the direction this team is headed. We are looking forward to a fun spring break trip next week."
The Knights will spend their spring break in the state of Texas. Calvin plays at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas next Wednesday and journeys to the University of Texas at Dallas next Friday.

BASEBALL
Aurora 8, Calvin 5

WHEATON, Il. - The Calvin baseball team fell to Aurora University 8-5 Friday afternoon in a game played on the campus of Wheaton College at Lee Pfund Field.

Calvin (0-4) scored five runs in the top of the second inning to take a 5-3 lead and held the lead until the seventh when the Spartans (10-2) scored twice to take a 6-5 advantage.

Aurora scored three runs in the bottom of the first and added a single run in the third to trail 5-4. Both teams traded goose eggs through the next three innings before Aurora scored twice in the seventh and added two insurance runs in the eighth.

Calvin collected 10 hits against the Aurora pitching staff. Junior Nate DeZwaan (Hamilton, Mich./Holland Christian HS) and sophomore Jonathan Keane (Brookfield, Wisc./Brookfield Central HS) had two hits apiece. Keane had a double and a walk on the afternoon.

Calvin's five-run second inning included an RBI single by junior Ryan Stewart (Shelby, Mich./Parkway Christian HS), a two-run single by senior Mike Kempton (Edwardsburg, Mich./Edwardsburg HS) and a two-run triple by DeZwaan.

Calvin chased Aurora starter Jacob Stockman after three innings but Chris Roycroft came on in relief to toss six shutout inning of relief for the Spartans to gain the win.

Sophomore Clay Francisco (Delton, Mich./Thornapple Kellogg HS) went the first five innings for the Knights, strikout four and walking one. Freshman Trevor VanDuyn (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) took the loss in relief. Freshman Justin Paauwe (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) and sophomore Logan Walker (Imlay City, Mich./Lapeer East HS) also saw time in relief.

Calvin is back in action for two games on Saturday at Wheaton. The Knights will take on Saint Mary's of Minnesota at noon and host Wheaton at 3 p.m.
Received on Sat Mar 18 10:35:38 2017