Box Score By Mark DeHaan
The Knights hosted the Olivet College Comets on Saturday afternoon in their regular season finale. Saturday was also Senior Day for Calvin as the Knights honored their six seniors: Reed Bowden (Uxbridge, MA/Whitinsville Christian HS), Sean Broekhuizen (Grand Rapids/South Christian HS), Andrew Claucherty (Sterling Heights/Bishop Foley HS), Matthew DeKryger (Fremont/West Michigan Christian HS), Adrien Mary (Margate, England/Rain Forest International School), and Travis Vegter (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS).
Combining with the women's game before, the men's soccer team raised awareness for breast cancer by sporting pink jerseys for the match.
Behind two-goal performances from Vegter and junior Taylor Pruis (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS), Calvin defeated the Comets 6-1 to complete a 14-0, undefeated conference campaign.
The Knights are the first team in MIAA men's soccer history to complete a league campaign 14-0-0 and the first undefeated regular season champion since Kalamazoo in 2001 when the Hornets posted a 12-0-0 league mark.
The first part of the first half was played at largely 50-50 as both teams struggled to gain any strong opportunities on goal.
The Knights then broke through in the 23rd minute. On a corner kick, sophomore Isky Van Doorne (Calgary, AB/Western Canada HS) played a ball on the ground above the box which appeared to be intended for Vegter. Vegter then let the ball run through his legs, and waiting behind was freshman Mitch Stark (South Lyon/South Lyon HS) who slotted a ball into the lower left corner for the first goal of the game and a 1-0 Calvin lead.
Calvin expanded its lead minutes later. In the 27th minute, Van Doorne played a long ball into the center of the box to Vegter, who rose above his defender and headed it into the back of the net to build the Knights advantage to 2-0.
With the clock winding down in the first half, Pruis added a third Calvin goal with just a second remaining, putting all the momentum in the Knights favor as the halftime buzzer sounded.
In the first half, the Knights outshot the Comets 7-1.
In the second half, Olivet scored a goal in the 52nd minute to draw to within two.
The Knights responded in the 56th minute as Vegter added a brace on another header goal, this on a chip in from Stark.
Calvin continued its strong attack as Pruis added a second goal in the 59th minute.
The Knights then rounded out the scoring in the 82nd minute. Adrien Mary pounced on a misplayed ball by Olivet's defense and played it into the back of the net for a 6-1 Knights victory.
Calvin outshot the Comets 17-10 for the game. Junior goalkeeper Niko Giantsopoulos (Markham, ON/St. Augustine Catholic HS) and Claucherty combined to make four saves in nets, allowing just a single goal.
"I really want to thank our seniors. All six have been fantastic contributors to the culture of our program, and we wouldn't be 14-0 without them," said head coach Ryan Souders. "We want to be a program that is about more than us. Night of Nets, breast cancer awareness and raising funds – we want to be a team that is building, encouraging, and making an impact off the field."
Calvin finishes its season at 14-0 in conference, the first team to win 14 conference games without a defeat. Other Knights teams have finished undefeated, but before the league schedule consisted of 14 games. The Knights improve to 17-2 overall. Calvin saw a goal differential of +48 for the league season, scoring 51 league goals while only allowing three.
"This season has been a testament to the entire group, one to 26," said Souders. "There are guys that push it in training that you might not see on the pitch, but I think every guys has contributed to what has been a really fun season thus far."
Olivet falls to 9-11 overall and 7-7 in the MIAA. Calvin now looks forward to Wednesday when it hosts Alma College in the conference tournament semifinal with kickoff set to begin at 3 p.m.
