Box Score By Gina de Haan
On Tuesday afternoon, the Calvin women's lacrosse team faced off against Albion College in a key conference matchup. The game was a rematch of last year's MIAA Tournament Championship game in which Albion claimed a narrow 11-10 victory.
Both the Knights and Britons entered the game undefeated in the MIAA, with Calvin 1-0 and Albion 2-0. Last Wednesday the Knights rolled over Trine 22-1, while the Britons have recorded wins against Olivet and Alma.
It was Albion who maintained its perfect conference record, defeating Calvin 7-4.
The first 15 minutes of play were scoreless as both goalkeepers put on strong defensive performances.
With 14:37 remaining in the first half, Albion's Cait Gaitley scored the first goal of the afternoon off an assist by Kadie Koolwick.
Just over five minutes later, Calvin's Amanda Davio (Okemos/Okemos) evened the score back up, with an unassisted goal.
Kelly Pepper (Wyckoff, NJ/Indians Hills HS) added to the Knights' offensive effort, scoring a beauty of a goal with just under eight minutes left in the first half.
However, this advantage was short-lived as Albion knotted the score at two after a goal by Julie Wood, assisted by Alex Radzville. 5:55 remained in the first half.
With 2:44 left to play before halftime, Cait Gaitley scored again for the Britons to earn back their lead, this time off a free position attempt.
A last-second goal by Albion's Kadie Koolwick, assisted by Gaitley, gave the Brits a 4-2 halftime advantage.
Albion got off to a strong second half start and used its momentum to hold on to the lead during the remainder of play.
4:13 into the half, Julie Wood scored to put Albion up 5-2 over the Knights. Just over two minutes later, Koolwick added another point for the Brits, capitalizing on a free position shot.
Calvin's Lauryn Slachter (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) answered Koolwick's goal with a free position goal of her own. The Knights trailed Albion by three with 21:20 left in the contest.
With 16:17 remaining, Gaitley scored again for the Brits, earning herself a hat-trick and her team a 7-3 lead.
Despite the Knights' comeback efforts, they were only able to score one more goal before time expired. The goal came from Lauryn Slachter once again, as she netted an unassisted goal while the Knights had a man-advantage.
In the loss, Calvin goalkeeper Ellis Chalfant (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis Country Day School) recorded 19 saves out of 33 Albion shots. The Knights put 20 shots on Albion goalkeeper Victoria Della pia, who had 11 saves on the afternoon.
Albion won 10 draw controls while Calvin only won two, and scooped up 19 groundballs while the Knights had seven. The Knights were 18-20 on clear attempts, while the visitors completed 19 out of their 23 attempts.
The Knights continue into the heart of their conference season as they travel to Alma on Saturday to take on the Scots (1-8, 0-2 MIAA). Game start is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
