1984 NCCAA National Soccer Tournament

Ho hum, another year, a- nother trip to the natio­ nal tournament. This will be the Comets third conse­ cutive National Tournament bid. They are also a note- able 42-15-5 in those sea­ sons. At the helm is Dr. John Bratcher in his 4th season with Grand Rapids Baptist. His won-lost percentage is a phenomenal .713, 54-20-6. "Although 5 starters and 10 lettermen returned from last season’s squad every­ one is playing new positi­ ons this year" explained Bratcher. Sophomore striker Steve Adolph (16 goals, 18 as­ sists) leads a potent at­ tack outscoring opponents 61 to 28. Midfielder Tom Cooke contributed 8 goals and enabled teammates to score another 14 on their way to a 10-6-2 slate. Bratcher singled out As­ sistant Coach Kevin Van- denAkker for his hard work with the forwards develo­ ping their technique and perfecting tactics. Defensively Grand Rapids relies on tight marking by all the players in a total team defensive effort. In goal Dan Cooke has played every minute of every game for the Comets. He has 106 saves and 7 shutouts to his credit. Regional playoffs could be summed up in two words — rain and mud. In their 1st round match Coach Bra­ tcher’s crew took on Tri­ nity Christian College de­ feating them 7-3 behind 3 goals by Adolph. It took 6 minutes for Grand Rapids to jump ahead 2-0, Adolph scored both of them, but they could not put Trinity away. By halftime the lead was stretched to 4-0. Then in the opening 10 minutes following halftime Trinity retaliated scoring twice. But GRBC responded by out- scoring them 3-1 the rest of the way to make it 7-3. Next in line was Trinity College of Deerfield, II. Despite the poor condition of the field Grand Rapids midfielder Cal Baumgarten scored only 1:30 into the match. Trinity hung tough holding the Comets at bay until they were able to knot the game at 3 minutes into the second half. Bratcher's club pressed harder and junior midfiel­ der Brett Lile headed home the game winner 8 minutes later sending the club to Texas. * * * * * * * * * J)C* * jjcsic jjc jjc # jjc sjejjc jjc * jjc jjc jj: * jjc jjc jjc jjc j { c jjejjc * * * * Jjc * Jjc * * * Jjc sjesfe^e Jjc * jjcjjc jjejjc jjc * * jj: * jjc jjcjjc * jj: jjc sfcjjc ={e* jjc :jc * * jjc * jjc jjc jjc jjc jjc * * * * jjc jjc * jjc * * * * # NAME P0S HT WT CLASS MAJOR HOMETOWN 1 Cooke, Dan G 5’10" 165 Fr Biology Kankakee, 11 2 Cooke, Tom S 5 ’10" 155 Jr Business Administration Kankakee, 11 3 Wisen, Dave FB 5 ’ 9" 150 Jr Business Administration Itasca, 11 4 Lile, Brett HB 5 ’ 8" 154 Jr Speech Kankakee, 11 5 Baumgarten, Cal HB 5 ’ 9" 150 So Business Administration Wyoming, Mi 6 Adolph, Steve S 5 ’ 9" 132 So Missions Wheaton,11 7 Carigon, Tim S 6 ’ 2" 185 Sr History Zeeland, Mi 9 Moon, Jeff S 6 ’ 3" 175 Sr Physical Education Maple Rapids, Mi 10 Underwood, Scott HB 5 ’ 6" 130 Fr Business Administration Bradley, 11 11 Meads, Dave S 5 ’ 4" 115 Jr Physical Education Evart, Mi 12 Bronkema, Dave FB 5 ’ 9" 155 So Psychology Grand Rapids, Mi 13 Webster, Brian FB 5’10" 155 So Missions Columbus, Oh 14 Wright, Tim FB 5 ’11" 165 Fr Business Administration Kankakee, 11 15 DeCook, Dave HB 5’11" 160 Sr History Holland, Mi 16 Skiles, Dave S 5’10" 137 Fr Pastoral Galloway, Oh 18 Webb, Dan S 5’10" 165 Fr Biology Whittemore, Mi 19 Bradley, Mike FB 5 ’11" 155 Jr Business Administration Gary, In 20 Bartenslager, Robb S 6 ’ 1" 145 Fr Business Administration Britton, Mi Head Coach: Dr. John Bratcher Asst. Coach: Kevin VandenAkker Manager: Tim Bradley 15