By Mark DeHaan

Calvin and Albion faced off at Zuidema Field in the MIAA Tournament Final on Saturday. Both teams were looking for their first NCAA Tournament berth with the conference's qualifying bid on the line.

The Knights defeated the Britons 15-14 in a come-from-behind win during the regular season.

This game, much like the first meeting, was tight and hard-fought all the way through. Neither team saw an advantage of more than two goals, and in the end, it was the Britons avenging the regular season one-goal loss with a single-goal defeat of Calvin, 11-10.

The Britons netted the first two goals of the game, both from Ashley Glenn, to take a 2-0 lead less than five minutes in.

Calvin responded with three straight goals, two from junior Carolyn Forbes and another from senior Karissa Reed, to turn the tables and go ahead 3-2.

Glenn then scored two more, with Knights senior Paige Noordyke answering with one of her own, as the game headed into halftime tied 4-4.

Despite the tied score, Albion held the upper-hand in the opening period. The Britons outshot Calvin 12-8, held an 8-1 draw control advantage, and collected 34 ground balls to the Knights' 11. Calvin was just 6-for-11 on clear attempts, while Albion was 5-for-6.

After the break, the teams each scored a goal before the Britons scored two straight to take a 7-5 lead with 22:44 to go.

Senior Lindsey Ryskamp then netted a goal for Calvin, but it was quickly answered by Glenn.

Back-to-back tallies from Forbes and freshman Amanda Davio then knotted the contest at 8-8 midway through the second half.

After an Albion goal, Noordyke and Ryskamp scored two straight as Calvin saw its first lead since early in the first half at 10-9 with 11:50 remaining remaining in the second half.

Again, Glenn answered quickly, just 90 seconds later, to tie up the game at 10-10.

With 7:22 to go, Glenn found the back of the net one more time to put Albion on top 11-10. The goal proved to be the game winner as the Britons held the Knights to just one more shot in the remaining time.

The Knights were outshot 22-18 for the contest. Albion also held a 46-22 ground ball advantage and 20-3 draw control edge. Calvin completed just 11-of-20 clear attempts compared to 8-of-11 for the Britons.

Individually for the Knights, Forbes scored three goals and collected two ground balls, while Reed had two goals, two assists, and two ground balls. Noordyke and Ryskamp each added two goals, with Davio adding the final tally.

In goal, junior Corry Remy put in a fantastic performance, totaling eight saves.

For Albion, Glenn had seven goals and seven ground balls. Julie Wood contributed one goal, four assists, and four ground balls.

The Calvin defeat ends an amazing 10-game win streak for the Knights that began on April 1 and continued throughout the month.

The loss also ends the careers of Calvin seniors Karissa Reed, Paige Noordyke, Delaney Callahan, Erin Leegwater, Lindsey Ryskamp and Epiphany Donat.

"I'm proud of the season we had," said Calvin head women's lacrosse coach Blake Boehm of his squad that captured the school's first MIAA regular season title last month. "We had a great group and we really meshed well during the latter half of the season. It's difficult to lose a close game like this one but we had a good run and gave it our best effort."

Calvin's season ends with a 12-6 overall record.