On Senior Day and playing in their final conference match of the season Saturday, the Knights came out and defeated Trine 2-0 Saturday afternoon to claim a share of the MIAA title with Hope. Scoring in the 7th minute to take the lead, and then adding an insurance goal with 10 minutes left in the match, 

Calvin ended its regular season with a bang and now will look for an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The NCAA III Tournament bracket will be announced on Monday. 

Calvin (9-2-3 MIAA) shares the MIAA title with Hope (10-4-0 MIAA) which defeated Olivet 2-0 Saturday with each school finishing with 30 points in league play. Hope gains the MIAA's automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over Calvin. 

For Calvin, the MIAA title is its fourth straight including its sixth under head coach Chris Hughes. It marks the second time a Calvin men's soccer team has won four straight MIAA titles. Calvin previously did so from 1976-to-1979. Kalamazoo is the only other MIAA school to win four consecutive league men's soccer titles with the Hornets doing some from 1988-to-1991. No MIAA team has ever won five straight league crowns. 

Calvin finished its 2010 MIAA season with five straight wins after dipping to 4-2-3 in league play after a 2-1 loss to Hope on October 20. 

"An MIAA championship is very difficult to get, so consistency is key," Coach Hughes said after the win. "It's a great day, and we will celebrate the championship today and then hope we get an at-large bid to the NCAAs on Monday." 

Coming into the day tied with Hope with 27 points in the league standings, the Knights got right to work against the Thunder, with the first goal coming in the 7th minute from junior Tyler Vegter (Hudsonville, MI) on a breakaway pass from senior Brad Heethuis (Jenison, MI). Vegter ran onto the ball while fighting off a Thunder defender with his body, and coolly finished the ball into the left side netting for a goal, his 5th of the season. 

Ranked 18th nationally, Calvin (15-2-3 overall), created a number of other opportunities throughout that first half, including a couple of close shots coming in the final seconds off a free kick and corner kick, but Trine managed to keep the damage to the lone goal only. 

The second half saw a steady amount of chances come around for the Knights again throughout the half as Calvin looked to add some cushion, and finally that goal came with only 10 minutes to go [80th minute], when sophomore Joe Broekhuizen (Grand Rapids, MI) received a nice pass from senior Kurt Van Sickel (Pittsburgh, PA) and launched his sixth goal of the year past the Thunder keeper.  

The Knights outshot Trine 26-8 over the course of the match, with senior keeper Ryan Bratt (Silver Spring, MD) making 4 saves en route to another clean sheet for his record. Six seniors on Calvin's roster - Kyle Billin, Ryan Bratt, Scott Hooker, Dan Kmetz, Kurt Van Sickel and Lucas Wilgenburg - were recognized before the game, highlighting their major accomplishments over the course of their soccer career. 

"What a great group of seniors," Hughes said of his veteran group. "They led us here again, and in the times of trouble they stand up and take care of business."