CKSR (Men's Soccer Gains Top Spot in National Polls / Women's Soccer Routs Saint Mary's / Softball Players Receive Academic Honors From NFCA)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR OCT. 10. 2017

Men's Soccer Gains Top Spot in National Polls;
Women's Soccer Routs Saint Mary's;
Softball Players Receive Academic Accolades From NFCA

MEN'S SOCCER

The Calvin men's soccer team has risen to the top spot in the Division III national rankings. For the first time this year, the Knights are ranked No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches Division III Top 25 poll.
Calvin has been ranked second in the United Soccer Coaches Poll until this week when they moved past the University of Chicago which had held the top spot over the first four weeks of the season.
The Knights are also ranked No. 1 in the D3soccer.com Top 25 poll and have held that spot over the last five weeks.
Under the direction of head coach Ryan Souders, the Calvin men's soccer team has produced an overall won-loss record of 12-0-0 and a conference record of 8-0-0.
The Knights travel to rival Hope Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. conference contest.

UNITED SOCCER COACHES TOP 25 POLL FOR 10-10-17: http://unitedsoccercoaches.org/web/Rankings/College_Rankings/NCAA_DIII_MEN/web/rankings/ncaa/diii_men.aspx

D3SOCCER.COM TOP 25 POLL FOR 10-10-17: http://d3soccer.com/top25/men/2017/week2

WOMEN'S SOCCER
Calvin 7, Saint Mary's 1

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin women's soccer team got back on the winning track with a 7-1 conference victory over the visiting Belles of Saint Mary's College Tuesday night at Zuidema Field.

Calvin led 3-0 at halftime and never looked back as seven different Knights scored goals Tuesday evening.

With the win, Calvin (10-4-0 overall, 7-3-0 MIAA) moves into a tie for third place in the MIAA standings with Olivet.

Junior Emily Van Vliet (Grandville, Mich./Calvin Christian HS) had a goal and two assists for Calvin in the win. Senior Emily Van Veldhuisen (Brookville, Md./Washington Christian Academy) had a goal and an assist as did freshman Abby Koops (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS).

Also scoring goals for Calvin were seniors Camie Rietberg (Wyoming, Mich./Calvin Christian HS) and Anica Pausma (Tinley Park, Il./Chicago Christian HS, junior Mackenna Nesky (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) and freshman Jessica Paulson (Plymouth, Mich/Plymouth Christian HS).

Senior Hattie LaCroix (Zeeland, Mich./Zeeland West HS) had a pair of assists. Also recording assists were junior Kali Mouw (Avon, N.Y./Avon Central HS) and freshman Maria VanderLei (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS).
"We're getting back on track," said Calvin women's soccer coach Mark Recker. "There was a lot of energy tonight. A lot of different people got to play which is an emotional boost to the team. We needed the three points and we got them. We are playing with a number of young players and they are learning what it takes to perform at a high level over an entire season. Any time we do something positive it's a sign of growth with this team."

Calvin returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Alma for a 3:00 p.m. conference match.

 MIAA WOMEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS THROUGH 10-10-17

Hope 9-1-1
Kalamazoo 8-3-0
Calvin 7-3-0
Olivet 7-4-0
Adrian 6-3-2
Albion 6-3-1
Alma 2-9-0
Trine 1-9-0
Saint Mary's 0-11-0

SOFTBALL

Six members of the 2017 Calvin softball team have received NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors.
In order to receive the honor, individuals needed to have maintained a cumulative 3.5 grade point average of above for the 2016-17 academic year.

The six individuals from Calvin to receive the honor are Brianna Noorman (Jenison, Mich./Covenant Christian HS), Maddie DeGroot (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS), Paige Groom (Potterville, Mich./Potterville HS), Jessica Brasser (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS), Jordan VanEerden (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) and Kayla Groen (Frankfort, Il./Lincoln Way East HS).

"This is a great honor for our players," said Calvin head softball coach Becky Hilgert. "Our team has taken pride in setting high academic goals. These six players have set a benchmark for the future academic success of our program."

Groom was graduated from Calvin last spring. Brasser recently completed her junior year while DeGroot was a sophomore during the 2016-17 academic year. Noorman, VanEerden and Groen were freshmen last year.
Received on Tue Oct 10 23:10:26 2017