The Knights' inability to finish had been absent over their last thirteen games when Calvin had outscored opponents 43-8 and was undefeated. The last sign of it was in Calvin's conference opener, nearly two months ago, when the Knights outshot Kalamazoo 19-1, but fell 1-0 to the Hornets.
In Friday night's first round NCAA tournament game, it was back. Calvin out shot John Carroll 29-9, held a 13-3 shots on goal advantage, and totaled 13 corner kicks, but fell 1-0 to the Blue Streaks in a game played at Ohio Wesleyan University.
The lone goal came in the 65th minute when Alex Bernot assisted Scott McKinney on a free kick from the corner. Bernot led the Blue Streaks with 12 goals and picked up his team high 14th assist on the play. McKinney, who was John Carroll's other go-to player, picked up his ninth goal of the year on the set piece.
The goal came after the Knights held possession from almost the start of the second half. Calvin had several chances early, but simply could not finish. The corner kick was set up after a quick counter attack. Calvin seemed caught off guard after not having to defend most of the second half. McKinney, one of the smaller players on the John Carroll roster at 5-10, elevated just enough to put a head on the perfectly placed ball. The goal came on John Carroll's first shot of the second half.
The quick counter attack goal sucked the wind out of the sails of the Knight offense that had been pounding shot after shot at John Carroll goal keeper Matt DeMarchi. It didn't take long, however, for Calvin to re-establish that offensive momentum as the Knights again flooded the Blue Streak net with shots.
After the goal, Calvin added an extra midfielder in Jeff Grater (Stow, OH/ Stow Munroe Falls) who replaced defensive stopper Luke Holtrop (Unity Christian/ Hudsonville). John Carroll countered, however, and packed it in defensively over the final 15 minutes of play.
Still, the Knights had several opportunities for the equalizer over the final ten minutes. Michael Holwerda (Grand Rapids/ Grand Rapids Christian) had a ball deflected to him inside the box, but missed a left footed shot just wide right. Calvin had six corner kicks in the second half, but a tall John Carroll defense, anchored by 6-4 Steve Rock, limited the Knights scoring chances on its corner kicks. Calvin's best scoring chance came with under five minutes to play, when the cross came to an open player on the far side. The shot, however, floated across the open net and was cleared out by a John Carroll defender just before it would have landed in the goal. It was one of three team saves the Blue Streaks had in the game.
But DeMarchi was outstanding as well picking up ten saves of his own and seeing shot after shot poured onto his net in the second half. In all Calvin out shot the Blue Streaks 20-3 in the second half, but were unable to find the net.
The shutout loss snaps the Knights undefeated streak and ends the scoring streak it has possessed since the loss to Kalamazoo. It also ends Calvin's season with a 14-5-2 record. Calvin was making its seventh NCAA tournament appearance, including its second at Ohio Wesleyan in three years. In 2005, Calvin beat the Battling Bishops 2-1 to advance to the sectional semi-finals. Calvin is now 5-6-1 all-time in the NCAA tournament. The matchup with John Carroll was the first ever between the two schools in the NCAA tournament.
John Carroll advances to play the winner of Ohio Wesleyan- Transylvania tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Ohio Wesleyan. The loss comes on the heels of a record five Knights being named to the All-MIAA first team and two named to the All-MIAA second team. Calvin captured the MIAA Championship with an 11-1-1 record in conference and had the league's best offense and defense, scoring 43 goals and giving up only nine.
The loss also marks the final game for seniors Jared Litty (Hudsonville/ Hudsonville), Nick Capisciolto (Hudsonville/ Unity Christian) and Dave Fortosis (West Chicago, IL/ Wheaton Academy). A midfielder, Litty scored eight goals and three assists to finish fourth on the team in total points. A year ago, Litty was one of only three players to start all 20 games and led the Knights with six goals and three assists for a team high 15 points. In 2005, Litty came off the bench to lead Calvin with 14 goals. In 2004, as a freshman, Litty played in all but one game and scored a goal and tallied three assists.
Also a midfielder, Capisciolto was second on the team in points this season as one of three players with a team high nine goals while also adding six assists for 24 points. He has also started all but five games over the course of his career. In 2005, he led Calvin's Sweet 16 team with seventeen assists and also added nine goals. In 2004,
Capisciolto tallied four goals and three assists and in 2003, as a freshman, picked up eight goals and four assists. A goal keeper, Fortosis started the season before being injured against Wheaton in just the fourth game of the season. He finished the season with 1.63 goals against average and a 2-0-1 record. Fortosis spent his first two years on the jayvee team and a year ago average 0.64 goals against, allowed only seven goals in 12 appearances and finished the year with a 6-1-2 record.
