After a disappointing loss to Hope on Wednesday, the Knights responded with a critical 3-0 victory over MIAA leading Kalamazoo on Saturday afternoon. The Knights remain third in the tightly packed MIAA race, just two points behind league-leading Adrian and one point back of second place Olivet. 

After a rather uneventful opening to the game, sophomore Nick Holtrop found high-school teammate and junior Tyler Vegter on a vertical run into the box. Vegter skirted a shot passed Hornet keeper Grant Carey and into the side netting to put Calvin on the board. 

Despite being outshot 9-3 in the first half, the lone goal held a lead for Calvin going into the break. Then, in the 62st minute, Holtrop headed in a throw-in from freshman Mike Sanderson into the net, doubling Calvin's lead. 

Throughout the half, Calvin's back line took the sting out of the Hornet's attack, limiting them to just two shots in the final 45 minutes. Then with less than three minutes to play, junior Justin Ahearne cleaned up a scrum in front of the net with another header goal - his sixth of the year. 

This brought the score to 3-0, which held for the remainder of the game. Goalkeeper Ryan Bratt finished his clean sheet with three saves, all coming in the first half. 

Coach Chris Hughes recognized how critical this game was, saying, "We had to have three points today. Tying and losing weren't options." With 18 players seeing significant playing time, depth gave Calvin a big edge. "We needed to play a full 90 minutes today and our depth provided a good balance. We got a lot out of everybody," he added. 

Calvin returns to action next Tuesday when it journeys to Olivet for a crucial league match scheduled to start at 4 p.m.