Women’s soccer redeeming all of the nation By Dorina Lazo With butterflies in their stomachs, the women’s soccer team and their coach huddled around a speakerphone on Sunday evening, waiting for the news. At 10 p.m. the news came from the national committee, inviting the team to nationals and announcing Calvin as the host of the Great Lakes Region national games. Needless to say, the team was ecstatic. “Everyone pretty much knew we were going to make it,” said Jeffrey Febus, Sports Information Director at Calvin. “It was just a matter of where it was going to be hosted.” Febus explained that the NCAA held a national teleconference call that was prerecorded. At the end of the message they announced that Calvin would host the regionals. “And as soon as they said that, everyone screamed,” said Febus. Erin Cowell, a midfielder on the team, was among those present for the conference call. She was also a member of the team during the fall of 1995 when the team was denied a chance at nationals. “It was a real big let down,” Cowell remembers. “This year was a lot more exciting because we knew we were going to go on.” With a record of 18-1-1, the team has set regional records as well as historical records. This is the first year in Calvin’s history that the team will participate in nationals, as well as the first time they will host nationals. Coach Debra Bakker was quick to attribute this specific team’s success to experience. “The juniors and seniors of the team have had incredible records their whole time at Calvin,” Bakker explained. Calvin will play on Friday, November 7 at 1:30 p.m. versus Denison. Because Calvin was ranked number one in the Great Lakes region, the team received a bye to this leg of the national tournament. Denison beat DePauw 2-0 in a face-off on Wednesday night. On that same night Kalamazoo beat Wilmington 5-1, advancing them to the regional finals to play Washington University on Friday. The winners of the two Friday games will then face off on Saturday at 1p.m.