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10-12-2001 |  |
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Women's soccer shuts out St. Mary's 3-0
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Senior striker Larissa Onderlinde, the second leading goal scorer in the MIAA, picks apart the Belle's defense. |
by sam dyste
Guest Writer
Belle might be synonymous with beautiful, but there was nothing pretty about the St. Mary's College Belle's soccer team on Tuesday night. The Lady Knights varsity soccer team forced the Belles into sloppy play on Tuesday night and ended the game with a sound 3-0 drubbing.
Junior forward Tricia Dyk started the scoring off for Calvin (10-4, 7-2 MIAA) at the 14:54 mark after a series of accurate passes from junior midfielder Lindy VanHaitsma and junior defender Heather VanVugt. The goal proved to be the game winner.
Dyk found the back of the net again at the 32:00 mark. That goal gave her 19 on the year, and proved to put victory sufficiently out of reach for the Belles. Dyk is coming off a 2000 campaign that saw her score 32 points and lead the team in scoring. Dyk is on pace to lead the team again and possibly break the 50 point plateau.
``Tricia is the strongest offensive player,'' sophomore defender Sarah Derrico said. ``We just need to get her the ball, she's the goal scorer. Not only that, but she has the biggest heart on the team. She and Larissa [Onderlinde] are the best offensive players we have.''
Senior Forward Tara Bergsma concluded the scoring late in the second half with a stellar unassisted goal, her fourth on the season. After seeing her first shot stopped by the Belles' goalkeeper, Bergsma squirted the ball just inside the left post.
Despite the sound victory, head coach Mark Recker felt that the team did not play with complete focus.
``We pitched a shutout, which is always good to do, but we weren't as sharp as I would like,'' Recker said. ``We missed passes, had poor communication at times, and were less sharp than we normally are.''
Being successful in athletics also takes a little bit of luck. St. Mary's (5-7, 3-5 MIAA) had their chances to score, particularly in the waning moments of the first half, but the Lady Knights managed to remain unscathed.
``We didn't play the best we can defensively,'' Derrico said. ``But, we were quick enough to recover from our breakdowns. Our defense was better than their offense.''
While the team lacked their usual crispness, athleticism carried them over their mental problems to the victory. At times it seemed as if the Calvin players were running circles around the Belles.
``We have speed, good foot skills, and when we play well, more athletic girls than St. Mary's,'' Recker said.
The contest was the second of the season between the two teams during this campaign. In the first meeting, Calvin beat St. Mary's by a 3-1 margin. One of the best indicators of improvement is a comparison of head to head matches. Recker felt that the team has shown significant improvement since the mid-September battle.
``We had better overall play from the backfield to the front when we were on the same page,'' Recker said. ``We had many more quality chances today we didn't finish, but having that many chances is an improvement.''