 |
| Calvin's hockey team traveled
to Phoenix for the ACHS DIII national championship. |
A cross-country trip produced a national championship for the Calvin
men’s ice hockey club team. The Knights captured the American Collegiate
Hockey Association (ACHA) Division III National Championship with a 5-0
victory over the University of Georgia. The championship game was played
at the Alltel Ice Den — the practice facility of the NHL’s
Phoenix Coyotes.
The victory over Georgia completed a three-day tournament run that saw
Calvin rip off four straight victories to capture its first-ever national
championship. Calvin finished the year with a sparkling 29-1 record, establishing
a new Calvin single-season record for victories.
Calvin sophomore forward Max Sieplinga of Grand Rapids (Mich.) Christian
High School was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player on offense
and was given a spot on the all-tournament team for the second straight
year. Sieplinga finished the tournament with four goals, four assists
and a team-leading eight points in the tournament run.
Calvin opened the tournament with a 5-0 victory over the University of
Richmond and then topped South Dakota State, 8-3.
In the semifinal contest, top-seeded Calvin met second-seeded Arizona
State University, the host of the 16-team tournament. Trailing 1-0 early
on, Calvin rallied for three first-period goals to take a 3-1 lead and
then broke open a 3-2 lead with two goals in the third, including the
clincher by junior Jason Koole (Grandville, Mich.) that finished off a
5-2 Calvin victory.
“That was a huge victory,” said Calvin coach Mike Petrusma,
after the conclusion of the tournament. “We knew Arizona State was
a high-flying offensive team, and we knew it would be difficult winning
in its own backyard. That victory gave us a lot of confidence for the
championship final.”
In the final, Calvin freshman goaltender Gregory Clark (LaPorte, Ind.)
collected his second shutout of the tournament while the Knights scored
once in the first and once in the second to take a 2-0 lead into the final
period of play. Koole picked up Calvin’s first goal, with sophomore
Nick VerKuyl (Whitby, Ont.) scoring the second goal for the Knights.
“We felt pretty good about a two-goal lead,” said Petrusma.
“Our defense was sensational throughout the tournament, and we felt
that two goals was good enough to get the job done. At the same time,
we wanted to keep attacking when the opportunities were there.”
Calvin did just that, as Koole scored his team-leading sixth goal of
the tournament early in the third period to give the Knights a 3-0 lead.
Calvin then went up 4-0 on a goal by freshman Bryan Bandstra (Terrace,
B.C.), only to suffer back-to-back penalties, which gave the Bulldogs
a two-man advantage. It soon became a three-man advantage as Georgia lifted
its goaltender, but Sieplinga made the Bulldogs pay as he won a face-off,
beat a group of Georgia defenders on a sprint up the ice and lifted a
shot into an empty Georgia net with 50 seconds left to play.
“Wow! What an accomplishment for this group of guys,” said
Petrusma. “We have such a wonderful blend of players who play so
well together. We’ve got players from West Michigan, Canada and
all over the United States, but they’re like a group of brothers
who always look out for each other. I’m just tickled pink to see
this group win a national championship.”
Koole and VerKuyl were also named to the all-tournament team, with Koole
leading the Knights in goals with six during the tournament run, while
VerKuyl had seven points on the strength of two goals and five assists
to tie VerKuyl for second on the Calvin tournament scoring list.
Prior to this season, Calvin had made two trips to the ACHA Division
III Championships, finishing third both in 1993 and in 2003. |
