GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - For the fourth consecutive year, the Calvin men's soccer team has advanced to the MIAA Tournament finals. The Knights punched their ticket to the MIAA Tournament Championship final with a 3-0 victory over rival Hope in an MIAA Tournament semifinal game Wednesday afternoon at Zuidema Field.

Calvin (19-0-1) will host Alma Saturday afternoon at Zuidema Field with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament. Alma defeated Kalamazoo 1-0 in Wednesday's other semifinal contest.

Calvin scored all three of its goals in the second half to pick up the win in a game that featured the 100th meeting between the two long-time rivals.

Calvin outshot Hope 7-4 in the first half and had a handful of quality scoring chances including a shot on a rush into the box by sophomore Mitch Stark that skipped off the crossbar.

Hope also came close late in the first half as Andreas Slette was able to beat the Calvin defense for a header that bounced toward an open goal but then ricocheted off the post to keep the game level.

Calvin controlled possession early in the second half and broke through for a pair of goals just under two minutes apart.

Senior Taylor Pruis put the Knights up 1-0 six minutes into the second half as headed in a long throwin from freshman Trent Vegter. Just 1:50 later, junior Isky VanDoorne slipped a shot from the right wing just inside the far post after receiving a lead pass from junior David Waterson.

Ranked No. 1 nationally, Calvin completed the scoring in the 60th minute as senior Nick Groenewold ignited a breakaway with a long pass up the field to sophomore Mitch Stark. In the clear, Stark made not mistake, slipping a shot inside the right post to give the Knights a 3-0 advantage.

Beating a rival three times is never easy said Calvin men's soccer coach Ryan Souders after the match. "It's Hope-Calvin for a reason," said Souders. "They kept us scoreless for the first 50 minutes. They're a young team, a feisty team and a well-coached team. That's a rivalry and they gave us a battle today."

Calvin finished the game with a 20-10 shots at goal advantage. Senior goalkeeper Niko Giantsopoulos had one save in posting his 15th shutout of the season.

Sam Barthel had six saves for Hope in goal in defeat.

Wednesday's game marked the 100th meeting between Calvin and Hope in men's soccer. The Knights now lead the all-time series 55-34-11 and has won the last five meetings.

Calvin will now turn its attention to the MIAA Tournament Championship game Saturday against Alma.

"Our plan is to heal up, prepare and get focused for Saturday," said Souders. "It will be a challenging game but our goal as it has all year will be to play the game, not the occasion."

Saturday's start time is dependent upon the result of Thursday's MIAA Tournament semifinals in women's soccer. The start time will be announced later Thursday evening.