The Calvin men's soccer team remained on top of the MIAA standings with a 3-0 victory over the visiting Adrian Bulldogs Wednesday afternoon at Zuidema Field.

Ranked sixth nationally, the Knights are now 9-0-1 overall and 5-0-0 in the MIAA, three points ahead of 4-1-0 Kalamazoo. Calvin will host Kalamazoo on Saturday at Zuidema Field in a first place MIAA showdown.

Calvin dominated the match, firing 36 shots at goal but Adrian's defense put up a strong effort to keep the Knights off the board until the waning moments of the first half.

Senior Nick Groenewold (Oak Brook, IL/Timothy Christian HS) nearly put the Knights up 1-0 in the 18th minute of play as he headed a shot to the far post that was cleared off the line by an Adrian defender.

Calvin continued to pepper the Adrian goal and broke through with 5:24 left in the first half as sophomore Micah Beard (Otsego/Otsego HS) poked in a shot after an Adrian defensive miscue to give the Knights a 1-0 lead. The goal was the team-leading fifth of the year for Beard.

In the second half, Calvin continued to pressure the Adrian goal and grabbed a 2-0 lead in the 65th minute as senior Sam Hanover (DeWitt/DeWitt HS) was set up by sophomore Mitch Stark (South Lyon/South Lyon HS) with a well-placed crossing pass in the box. Hanover made no mistake on the Stark pass, firing a shot past the Adrian goalkeeper for his third goal of the season.

The Knights then sealed the win in the 75th minute as sophomore Matt Hinds (Frankenmuth/Frankenmuth HS) was able to beat the Adrian goalkeeper from a sharp angle after receiving a pass from freshman Jacob Witte (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS). The goal was the second of the year for Hinds.

Calvin senior goalkeeper Niko Giantsopoulos (Markham, Ont./St. Augustine Catholic HS) was credited with his sixth shutout of the season.

"I thought we had a quality team effort this afternoon," said Calvin men's soccer coach Ryan Souders. "Adrian came out very determined to keep us from scoring but we stuck with it, remained patient and the goals came. Adrian is a team on the rise so we feel very good about this win. We know that will face another challenging opponent in Kalamazoo on Saturday. First place will be on the line so we will need to bring our 'A' game to the pitch."

Saturday's game against Kalamazoo will feature a rematch of the 2014 MIAA Tournament Championship final which ended in a 1-1 tie but saw Calvin win a penalty kick shootout to claim the tournament crown.