Calvin freshman Luke Holtrop picked up the first two goals of his collegiate career and the Calvin men's soccer team clinched third place in the MIAA standings in the process as the Knights recorded a 5-2 victory at Kalamazoo College Wednesday afternoon.
A freshman midfielder from Hudsonville Unity Christian High School, Holtrop has had a strong freshman campaign for the Knights this fall but was still searching for her first collegiate goal until Wednesday when he scored with just over 30 minutes left in regulation off a pass from sophomore teammate Ben Buehrle (Tri-unity Christian HS) to break a 2-2 tie. Holtrop then tacked on another goal with just over six minutes remaining to help seal the win. Holtrop's first goal as part of a three-goal flurry by Calvin in a span of nine minutes that helped Calvin overcome a 2-1 halftime deficit.
Kalamazoo sandwiched a pair of Brett Bullard goals around a Calvin goal by Buerhle in the first half to take a 2-1 lead into intermission. Calvin (9-5-5 overall, 7-2-4 MIAA) came back to tie the game however on an unassisted blast by senior Maurice Wright (Wauwatosa, WI) in the 52nd minute of play. Holtrop then followed with a goal eight minutes later and junior forward Jared Litty (Hudsonville HS) then connected on a pass from senior David Holwerda (Grand Rapids Christian HS) to give Calvin a 4-2 lead ith 29 minutes remaining. Holwerda finished the afternoon with two assists. Sophomore Anthony Gratson (Rochester Stoney Creek HS) also picked up an assist on Holtrop's goal in the closing minutes of regulation.
Calvin finished the game with a 15-13 shots at goal advantage with junior goalkeeper David Fortosis (West Chicago, IL/Wheaton Academy) picking up the victory in nets for the Knights. Fortosis finished the game with a pair of saves including a stop of a Kalamazoo penalty kick 15 minutes into the second half that threatened to tie the game up at 3-3.
The Calvin victory also boosted the Knights four points ahead of Kalamazoo in the league standings with just one conference match left to play for both teams, thereby clinching third place for the Maroon and Gold.
Calvin will close out its season on Saturday when it journeys to Olivet for a 2:00 p.m. match.
