Top Five Moments of 2011 Season: #4 – 14 Team Shutouts
To get fans ready for the 2012 Olivet College men's soccer season, we are going to take a look back at the 2011 season over the next month. We are doing so by doing a countdown of the Top Five moments of the season. We will reveal a new moment over the next three weeks during the month of August.
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Editor's note: To get fans ready for the 2012 Olivet College men's soccer season, we are going to take a look back at the 2011 season over the next month. We are doing so by doing a countdown of the Top Five moments of the season. We will reveal a new moment over the next three weeks during the month of August.
#4 – 14 Team Shutouts
The Olivet College men's soccer team finished the 2011 season with a total of 14 shutouts. Out of a possible 22 matches, 14 shutouts is a superb team accomplishment.
The men managed eight of these shutouts in the first 10 games of the year, with three of them against Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) foes Kalamazoo, Alma and Albion. The Comets went on to win a 1-0 thriller on the road against a heavily senior loaded Trine squad who was ranked No. 3 in the region at the time. Over the course of the season, the shutouts continued to pile up with more wins in the conference against Alma, Kalamazoo, Adrian and Calvin. The wins against Kalamazoo and Alma meant that neither team found a way to break down the Comets in two tries, and back-to-back road shutout wins against NCAA Division III national runner-up Calvin.
A huge pat on the back for these efforts must be handed out to defensive unit, led by junior captain Cole Dehen and freshmen goalkeepers Alex Lang and Matt Van Houten. Upon reflection of this accomplishment, Head Coach Chad Wiseman said, "Fourteen shutouts in 22 games at the collegiate level is a fantastic achievement for our guys. I think it is a testament to not only how hard our guys work, but how hard they work together and for one another. As a coach who hates giving up goals, it is nice to see our players take that same stingy approach into our matches."
At the end of the season, these 14 shutouts placed the Comets among the nation's best in defensive statistics. They finished the season ranked No. 4 out of 396 NCAA Division III schools. This feat was the highest number of shutouts earned in school history, and has certainly set the defensive bar high for years to come.
#5 – Back-to-back wins at Calvin
#4 – 14 Team Shutouts