Box Score By Mark DeHaan
The Calvin women's soccer team hosted the Britons of Albion on Wednesday afternoon, looking to get back into the conference tournament race. The Knights entered the day in sixth place with 14 points in conference play, three points behind the opponent Albion and Adrian, who were tied for fourth with 17 points.
Despite scoring the first two goals of the game, the Britons responded with three of their own while holding Calvin scoreless the rest of the contest to stun the Knights 3-2 at Zuidema Field.
The Knights got off to a good start, scoring in the 3rd minute of play. Junior Taylor TenHarmsel found junior Paige Capel in the center of the box, who ripped a shot in the left side of the net for the early Calvin lead.
Sophomore Carly Veenstra doubled the lead in the 37th minute. Junior Kelsey Hiegel sent a free kick into the box that was headed by freshman Emily VanVeldhuisen right in front of the goal. Veenstra then reached out with her right foot and put the ball into the top of the net for a 2-0 Calvin edge.
Albion got one goal back just before halftime. Molly Hancock broke past the defense in the 43rd minute and beat the Calvin keeper one-on-one to draw the Britons within one by the break.
Calvin outshot Albion 9-3 in the first half, but the Britons keeper made four opening-half saves.
Out of the break, Albion knotted the game up in the 54th minute on a goal from Jenna Urso as she headed it into the back of the net.
The Britons took the lead just over 10 minutes later. Off a corner kick, Domenique Sarnecky headed in the third Albion goal to put the Britons ahead.
Despite a number of Calvin opportunities on goal, the Albion defense held strong and kept the Knights out of the net for the remainder of the game, beating Calvin 3-2.
The Knights outshot Albion 21-7 for the game, also holding a 4-1 edge in corner kicks.
"You look at the missed opportunities and you ask yourself should the game ever have been in jeopardy. They got three goals on seven shots – that's efficiency," said head coach Mark Recker. "A lot of things haven't bounced our way when opportunities could have."
The loss drops Calvin to 4-6-2 in conference play and 5-8-2 overall. Albion improves to 6-5-2 in the MIAA and 10-5-2 overall.
The Knights now look forward to Saturday when they host Adrian at home. Kick-off is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
