Men’s soccer team travels to play Calvin in semifinals of MIAA Tournament

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's soccer team travels to play Calvin College in the semifinals of the 2011 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament Friday at Zuidema Field in Grand Rapids.

THE MATCHUP: Olivet (13-6-1, 9-5 MIAA) vs. Calvin (15-4-1, 11-2-1 MIAA)
DATE/TIME: Friday, Nov. 4 at 3 p.m.
VENUE: Zuidema Field; Grand Rapids, Mich.
LIVESTATS: http://www.calvin.edu/scoreboard
LIVE AUDIO: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/calvin.portal#

MIAA TOURNAMENT: The Comets are the No. 4 seed, while the Knights are the No. 1 seed. The other semifinal features #3 seed Trine (Ind.) University playing at No. 2 seed Hope College. The winners of the two semifinal games will play in the tournament championship game tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. The game will be played at the highest remaining seed. This is the first-ever MIAA Men's Soccer Tournament.

SEASON SERIES: Olivet and Calvin split their two regular season meetings. On Oct. 5, the Knights beat the Comets, 3-0, at the Cutler Athletic Complex. Olivet won 1-0 over Calvin last Saturday, Oct. 29, at Zuidema Field.

OLIVET HEAD COACH CHAD WISEMAN: Chad Wiseman is in his third season as the Comets' head coach. He has led them to three straight winning seasons.

CALVIN HEAD COACH CHRIS HUGHES:  Chris Hughes is in his 10th season at the helm of his alma mater. A 1992 graduate of Calvin, he has posted a 149-46-21 record.

SCHOOL RECORD: With its 1-0 win Wednesday against Adrian, Olivet broke the single-season school record for wins. The previous record was 12 victories in 2010. In addition, the nine wins in MIAA play is also a single-season record, with seven being the previous record.

THE "WRIGHT" STUFF: Sophomore Adam Wright, of South End, England, has scored three game-winning goals in MIAA play this season. In addition, he has recorded assists on two other game-winning goals.

SMYSER WITH TWO: Sophomore Fred Smyser, of Grand Rapids, has scored the game-winning goal in two MIAA games. He also had the game-winning goal in a non-conference game.

SHUTTING OUT THE OPPONENT: Out of f Olivet's 13 wins this season in 2011, 12 have been by shutout. When you add a 0-0 tie at Manchester (Ind.) College, the Comets lead the MIAA and rank second among all NCAA Division III schools with 13 total shutouts.

LANG IN NET: Freshman keeper Alex Lang, of West Bloomfield, is among the MIAA leaders in shutouts (2nd, seven), saves (4th, 63), save percentage (4th, .818) and goals against average (4th, 1.03). Overall, Olivet's three keepers have allowed only 18 goals this season.

TAKING HIS SHOTS: Freshman Esteban Russell, of DeWitt, leads the MIAA with 84 shots and 4.20 shots per game. He is also tied for sixth in scoring with 17 points.

WINNING AGAINST MIAA FOES: Olivet and Calvin are the only MIAA teams to record at least one win against each of the other seven other MIAA teams this season.

NATIONALLY-RANKED: Calvin is ranked No. 2 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Central Region poll. The Knights are No. 16 in the NSCAA Top 25 poll. Olivet was ranked as high as No. 3 in the regional poll before dropping out of it.