Olivet men’s soccer team to host Hope in MIAA Tournament semifinals

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's soccer team hosts Hope College in the semifinals of the 2012 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament Thursday, Nov. 1, at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet.

THE MATCHUP: Hope (12-7, 9-5 MIAA) vs. Olivet (15-4-1, 10-4 MIAA)
DATE/TIME: Thursday, Nov. 1 at 3 p.m.
VENUE: Cutler Athletic Complex; Olivet, Mich.
LIVESTATS: http://www.olivetcomets.com/sports/msoc/livestats/

MIAA TOURNAMENT: The Comets are the No. 2 seed, while the Flying Dutchmen are the No. 3 seed. The other semifinal features #1 seed Calvin College hosting No. 4 seed Kalamazoo College. The winners of the two semifinal games will play in the tournament championship game Saturday, Nov. 3, at 2:30 p.m. The game will be played at the highest remaining seed.

SEASON SERIES: Olivet and Hope split their two regular season meetings. On Sept. 22, the Comets shutout the Flying Dutchmen, 2-0, at the Van Andel Soccer Stadium in Holland. Hope defeated Olivet, 2-1, on Oct. 17 at the Cutler Athletic Complex.

OLIVET HEAD COACH CHAD WISEMAN: Chad Wiseman is in his fourth season as the Comets' head coach and has led them to four straight winning seasons. The winningest men's soccer coach in school history, Wiseman has a 52-24-6 record. In his four seasons, he has posted a 4-4-1 record against Hope.

HOPE HEAD COACH STEVEN SMITH:  Steven Smith is in his 23rd season at the helm of the Flying Dutchmen. A 1982 graduate of Grand Rapids Baptist College, he has posted a 320-107-37 record.

SCHOOL RECORD: The Comets have broken the single-season school record for overall wins (15), wins in MIAA play (10) and MIAA points (30).

BEST FINISH: The second-place finish in the final MIAA regular season standings is the best in school history.

CAPTAINS: The 2012 team captains are senior Cole Dehen, of Kentwood, and junior Fred Smyser, of Grand Rapids.

LEADING SCORER: Sophomore Esteban Russell, of DeWitt, leads Olivet with 35 points, 10 goals, 15 assists and four game-winning goals. The 15 assists are a single-season school record.

PERFECT PKS: Smyser has taken three penalty kicks for Olivet in 2012, and has successfully made each one.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR?: Freshman Cory Werner-Hoskins, of Kalamazoo, is third on the team in scoring with 18 points on seven goals and four assists.

GUARDING THE NET: Sophomore keeper Alex Lang, of West Bloomfield, has started 18 games in net, and allowed only 18 goals for a 1.20 goals against average.

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

LEAGUE LEADERS: In only MIAA games, Russell ranks among the Top 5 in several offensive categories, including assists (1st, nine); assists per game (1st, 0.64); shots (2nd, 68); shots per game (3rd, 4.86); points (3rd, 21); points per game (3rd, 1.50), goals (tied for 5th, 6); and goals per game (tied for 5th, 0.43).

NATIONALLY-RANKED: Olivet is ranked No. 6 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Central Region poll after being the top ranked team for three weeks from Sept. 25-Oct. 16. Calvin is No. 3 in the regional poll. In addition, the Comets had climbed as high as No. 8 in the NSCAA national rankings.

D3SOCCER.COM: Olivet is receiving votes in the latest D3Soccer.com Top 25 poll.

MIAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: In the first-ever MIAA Men's Soccer Tournament in 2011, the Comets were No. 4 seed and upset No. 1 Calvin in the semifinals before losing to Hope in the championship game. Hope was No. 2 seed and beat No. 3 Trine (Ind.) University, 2-0, in the semifinals.