By Mark DeHaan

With a big game against rival Hope College looming on Thursday, the Calvin women's lacrosse team hosted Kalamazoo College on Tuesday. The Knights entered at 5-0 in the MIAA and in first place, while Kalamazoo was 2-3 in league play, good for sixth in the standings.

Calvin held a 7-3 lead at the break, but a run by the Hornets in the second half drew the visitors within two goals. Sophomore Emily Cefaratti then stepped up, netting three straight goals to boost the Knights lead back to five. Calvin then cruised to a 16-9 victory.

In the first half, the teams battled back and forth as the game saw three ties in the opening 20 minutes.

A goal from Emily Cefaratti with 8:11 remaining then put the Knights ahead 4-3.

Cefaratti scored two more goals in the remaining time of the half, while junior Carolyn Forbes added another, and Calvin went into halftime with a 7-3 advantage.

The Knights outshot the Hornets 15-5 in the first half, also forcing Kalamazoo into 12 turnovers. Calvin was 9-for-9 on first half clear attempts and also held a 22-11 ground ball advantage.

In the second half, senior Karissa Reed netted the first goal of the period to bring the score to 8-3.

The Hornets then went on a 4-1 run over the next ten minutes to bring the score to 9-7 with 20:35 to go.

After six scoreless minutes, Emily Cefaratti netted three goals in five minutes for Calvin, the final one coming in a man-down situation, to push the Knights lead up to 12-7.

Calvin then received goals from Reed, Forbes, freshman Amanda Davio, and freshman Emma Hall in the remaining time to claim a 16-9 win.

The Knights outshot the Hornets 30-16 for the game while also holding a 35-25 ground ball advantage by game's end. Calvin forced its opposition in 19 turnovers while only committing 10.

Individually, Cefaratti scored eight goals and collected five ground balls to lead the Knights. Reed added three goals, one assist, and led Calvin with eight ground balls. Forbes and Davio each scored two goals, with Davio contributing one assist.

"The difference for us was our defense really started to pressure them on ball, and we slid well to stop their dodgers," said head coach Blake Boehm. "On the opposite side of the ball, we were finding space, and Emily had a great game as did the rest of our offense."

Calvin returns to action on Thursday, hosting rival Hope College in a 1-2 conference contest. The Knights, now 6-0 in the MIAA and 9-5 overall, sit in first place, while Hope, at 6-6 overall and 5-1 in the league, is tied for second with Albion.

"(Your record) doesn't matter when it comes to the Calvin-Hope game, it's going to be a dog-fight all the way through," said Boehm. "We have to take tomorrow and prepare for them, then come out on Thursday ready to go and focused on our objectives."

The Knights and Flying Dutch are slated to face-off at 5:00 p.m.