FAUVER STADIUM-Sophomore forward Zach Willis and freshman teammate Tyler Vegter led the attack as Calvin College (MI) defeated St. John Fisher College 5-0 in 2011 Flower City Classic action on Saturday. The two combined for three of the five Calvin goals, including the game winner.
The two teams exchanged a few chances early in the game before Calvin (MI) (1-1) struck first midway through the first half. The goal was scored by Vegter (Wyoming, MI/Unity Christian) with an assist being given to Willis (Hudsonville, MI/Unity Christian), after they had a two on one break. Fisher (0-2) had an excellent chance under a minute later off a corner kick, with a Garhett Varin (Scottsville, NY/Wheatland-Chili) header bouncing off the right goal post.
Willis then beat two defenders and provided another great scoring chance for Calvin but Cardinal keeper Kyle Metcalfe (Fairport, NY/Fairport) made the save. It was those same two again in the 35th minute with Metcalfe once again coming up with a big save after Willis had a semi-breakaway. The great goalie play kept the score at 1-0 Calvin through the first half.
Early in the second half, a header by Calvin forward Dino Duratovic (Caledonia, MI/South Christian) hit the cross bar and nearly doubled the lead. Soon after, Fisher also had a great scoring chance but came up empty after the Knight's goalie Michael Dolan (Casco, MI/Marine City) made a reaching save to deflect a header just over the bar.
Calvin began to take control of the game soon after a foul in the box gave Chris Nance (Washington, MI/Warren DeLaSalle) an penalty kick that he calmly put into the bottom left corner of the net, beating Metcalfe for the 2-0 lead.
Then in the 63rd minute, Calvin showed some excellent passing skills with Vegter dancing around the end line to set up a goal by teammate Miles Colago (Anoka, MN/Anoka) to make the score 3-0 from the top of the box.
The Cardinals had a couple of chances to get back into it when fouls led to free kicks in the Calvin end of the pitch, but nothing came out of those opportunities as the Calvin backs held strong. Midfielder Jake Quattrini (Ava, NY/Rome Free Academy) had the best chance to tally a goal for Fisher while right in front of the net but he was unable to get a foot on it to beat Calvin's second goalie senior Jared Rushlau (Grandville, MI/Grandville).
Calvin then expanded the lead again with Willis getting his first of the night after he displayed some fancy dribbling to get past two Fisher defenders and new Cardinal goalie Brendan Kazmierski (Victor, NY/Spencerport). Willis then got his second goal after a great pass from Nance led to a tap into a wide open net.
The win gets back Calvin back on track after a defeat at the hands of the University of Rochester on Thursday night. The loss stings for St. John Fisher because it's their second in three days after losing a heartbreaker to SUNY Fredonia in the last minute of regulation also on Thursday.
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