By Mark DeHaan

The Calvin men's soccer team traveled to Olivet on Tuesday afternoon for an afternoon conference clash.

Ranked 12th in the latest NSCAA Division III Top 25 poll and 15th in the most-recent D3soccer.com Top 25 poll, the Knights entered in first place in the MIAA at 6-0 while the Comets were in fifth at 3-3. Despite giving up a quick goal to Olivet, Calvin responded with three goals to earn a 3-1 win and its seventh conference win by multiple goals this season in seven attempts.

Coupled with a 3-1 Kalamazoo victory over Hope Tuesday night, Calvin opens up a six-point lead over Hope in the MIAA standings.

Olivet came out early and scored a goal just three minutes into the contest, as Cory Werner-Hoskins buried the ball in the back of the net for a 1-0 Olivet lead.

Just ten minutes later, the Knights answered back. Receiving a pass from sophomore Isky Van Doorne (Calgary, AB/Western Canada HS), senior Travis Vegter (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) beat the Comets keeper to knot the game at 1-1.

In the 27th minute, Calvin took the lead. For the second game in a row, junior Nick Groenewold (Oak Brook, IL/Timothy Christian HS) stepped up to take a penalty kick and converted from the spot, giving the Knights a 2-1 edge.

Some inclement weather then put the game into a weather delay, which lasted more than an hour.

The teams then returned to the field to complete the first half, with the Knights holding the one goal advantage until halftime.

At half, Calvin held an 8-4 shots advantage. The first half also proved to be rather chippy, as 20 total fouls were called in the opening period.

Out of the break, the Knights extended their lead in the 56th minute. Van Doorne was again the catalyst as he served a free kick into the box that senior Sean Broekhuizen (Grand Rapids/South Christian HS) redirected into the Olivet goal to give Calvin a 3-1 lead.

Over the remaining half hour, Calvin allowed just one shot on goal as the Knights closed out the two-goal victory.

Calvin outshot Olivet 10-7 for the game. Junior Niko Giantsopoulos (Markham, ON/St. Augustine Catholic HS) made four saves in net for the Knights.

"We came out a little bit flat. We made a couple late steps, they made some great runs and had a great finish (on the opening goal)," said head coach Ryan Souders. "We were opportunistic. With the weather break and the field becoming mushy and soggy, it wasn't pretty soccer by either team, but we were able to do what we needed to on our end and take care of business on the defensive end to get three points."

The Knights complete the first half of their conference schedule 7-0 in the MIAA and 10-2 overall, while Olivet falls to 5-8 overall and 3-4 in league play. Calvin's ten wins marks 17 straight seasons that the Knights have recorded double-digit wins.

Calvin now looks forward to Saturday when it faces Alma at 2:30 p.m at Zuidema Field.