GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Benedictine University handed Calvin a 15-9 defeat in a hard-fought non-conference game at Calvin's Zuidema Field Wednesday afternoon.

Calvin (4-4) trailed Benedictine 5-0 after one quarter of play but then rallied behind a solid attack. Freshman Max Foster (Bloomfield Hills/Brother Rice HS) put Calvin on the board two minutes into the second quarter off a feed from sophomore Michael Winkler (La Quinta, CA/Palm Desert HS). Junior Joel Schaefer (Clarksville, MD/Annapolis Area Christian HS) drew Calvin to within 6-2 on a nice give-and-go with sophomore teammate Ethan Brown (Falmouth, ME/Falmouth HS).

Junior Chris Griffin (Hartland/Hartland HS) later added back-to-back goals just 23 seconds apart to pull the Knights to within 7-4. Benedictine (7-2) closed the second quarter with three unanswered goals to lead 10-4 at halftime. Calvin refused to fold in the second half however as Schaefer scored unassisted and freshman Seth Galyon (St. Anthony, MN/Concordia Academy) scored on an extra-man opportunity making the score 12-6 Benedictine stretched its lead back out to 15-7 before Schaefer was able to score on an assist from junior Jake Horstman (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) and Griffin was able to score on a feed from Schaefer to provide the final margin of victory.

Schaefer and Griffin both had three goals in the loss with Schaefer collecting two assists and Griffin one. Foster, Galyon and sophomore Nate Ray (Northville/Northville HS) all had single goals. Freshman Noah Nedd (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) had a team-high seven ground balls. Freshman Hunter Naggs (Cedarburg, Wisc./Cedarburg HS) won nine faceoffs.

Freshman goalie Tristan Parace was strong in goal, recording 15 saves. Benedictine outshot Calvin 48-30 in the contest but just 23-18 in the second half.

"I'm super proud of our guys and the fight that we gave," said Calvin men's lacrosse coach Luke Griemsman. "Our (roster) numbers are nowhere near where their (roster) numbers are at right now but when it was 10 on 10 out there we stuck with them and that's something to be proud of." Calvin will now prepare to travel to Carroll College (Wisc.) for a game slated to start at noon.