ALMA - With first place on the line in the MIAA standings, Calvin rose to the occasion Tuesday afternoon to claim a 1-0 victory at Alma's Scotland Yard.

Now ranked sixth nationally, Calvin improves to 7-0-1 overall and to 3-0-0 in the MIAA with the win. The Knights are now tied with Adrian (3-0-0 MIAA) for first place in the league standings with Alma, Albion and Kalamazoo all three points behind with 2-1-0 conference marks.

Calvin scored the only goal of the game 5:17 into the match as junior midfielder Stephan Hooker (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) collected a cross from sophomore Mitch Stark (South Lyon/South Lyon HS) and rocketed in his fourth goal of the season. The assist was the fifth of the season for Stark.

The goal came on Calvin's second shot of the game. The Knights procedeed to crank off 15 more shots but could not beat Alma goalkeeper Nick Strait again as Strait recorded five saves.

Senior goalkeeper Niko Giantsopoulos (Markham, Ont./St. Augustine Catholic HS) posted two saves for Calvin in recording his fifth clean sheet of the season including his third straight.

"That's a great result against a very good Alma team," said Calvin men's soccer coach Ryan Souders after the match against the Scots who dipped to 5-2-0 overall. "Every single guy on our roster 1-226 was a factor in this victory. I certainly felt like finishing could have been better, but I am very happy with this results. This was a really tough conference game on the road. Now we have to regroup and play a tough Olivet team on the road this Saturday."

Calvin's game at Olivet on Saturday is scheduled to begin at noon.

Earlier in the day, Calvin moved up nine spots in the national rankings as the Knights are now ranked sixth in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America. That poll can be found online at: NSCAA D3 TOP 25 POLL