At the midway point of the MIAA men's soccer campaign, Hope College is in control of first place in the conference standings. 

The Flying Dutchmen (10-3-0 overall, 7-0-0 MIAA) seized control of the top spot with a 1-0 victory over nationally-ranked Calvin Tuesday afternoon at the Buys Athletic Complex. The defeat was the first of the year for Calvin (11-1-0 overall, 6-1-0 MIAA) which saw its 13-game unbeaten streak snapped. 

Meanwhile, Hope extended its win streak over Calvin at the Buys Athletic Complex to five games as the Knights have not won in Holland since 1999. Hope has now won six of the last seven meetings against Calvin. 

Over the last 20 years, the two rivals are now deadlocked in head-to-head competition with the series standing 19-19-3 during that span. 

Heading into Tuesday's game at Hope, Calvin had produced six consecutive shutout victories and held opponents scoreless for over 620 minutes. Hope would break that streak however with a goal by junior Geoff Meyer with just 3:02 left in the first half, ending Calvin's scoreless streak at 665 minutes. 

Meyer nearly scored on a header in the game's opening five minutes but sent his shot high over the crossbar. Meyer would not make the mistake with time ticking down in the first half though as he redirected a serve from senior Todd Chappa off a free kick from the 25-yard line that snuck just inside the near post and past Calvin junior goaltender Joe Westra (Grand Rapids Christian HS). 

Calvin never seriously threatened in the first half but nearly scored in the opening five minutes of the second half of a corner kick deflection from sophomore Nick Capisciolto (Unity Christian HS). Hope junior goalkeeper Kevin Butterfield was able to make deflect the shot wide of the goal with a fingertip save. 

Both teams were credited with 15 shots at goal but Hope clearly had the higher quality scoring opportunities. Hope nearly took a 2-0 lead midway through the first half as junior forward Karter Klingenberg broke free in the Calvin box off a well-placed chip by Hope's Devin McNeil. Klingenberg was able to get behind Westra but his shot at a wide-open goal hit the near post. Klingenberg then got a second whack on a rebound shot but Westra was able to slide in front to make the save. 

Minutes later, Hope sent another shot that got behind Westra but Calvin defender John VanWylen (Grand Rapids Christian HS) was able to clear the ball just in front of the goal-line. 

Calvin would up the pressure in the final 15 minutes with junior Levi Kool (Holland Christian HS) and sophomore Maurice Wright (Wauwatosa, WI) just missing upper corners with big rips from the 25 yard line. Capisciolto also came close on a chip shot inside the closing 10 minutes but was just wide. 

Westra was credited with seven saves in defeat while Butterfield had nine saves for Hope. 

Ranked fourth in today's NSCAA Division III Top-25 poll, Calvin now sits in second place, three points behind Hope and just three points ahead of hard-charging Alma which moved to 5-2 in the conference with a 2-1 victory over Albion Wednesday afternoon. 

Calvin returns to action on Saturday when it hosts the Bulldogs of Adrian with a RealAudio broadcast (www.Calvin.edu/sports) set for 2:00 p.m.