GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Calvin men's lacrosse team closed out its 2016 campaign in winning fashion, defeating Kalamazoo College 12-4. The victory snapped a six-game losing streak by the Knights and marked their first conference victory since 2013.

Calvin played from behind early on against Kalamazoo, trailing 2-1 after one quarter of play. The visiting Hornets (4-9 overall, 0-7 MIAA) scored the first two goals of the game before Calvin sophomore Michael Winkler (La Quinta, CA/Palm Desert HS) scored with just 13 seconds left in the quarter. The goal was the first of four that Winkler scored in the contest.

Sophomore Nate Ray (Northville/Northville HS) scored on an extra-man opportunity to tie the game 2-2 off a feed from junior Chris Griffin (Hartland/Hartland HS) early in the second quarter. Three minutes later, Ray scored on a highlight-reel transition goal, receiving a long-bomb pass from freshman Noah Nedd (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and deking Kalamazoo goalie Michael Dutcher for the go-ahead goal.

Junior Joel Schaefer (Clarksville, Md./Annapolis Area Christian HS) and sophomore Austin Bontreger (Fishers, Ind./Heritage Christian HS) followed with unassisted goals and Winkler provided the final first half touch with a goal through the left wing with just three seconds left in the first half that up the Knights up 6-2.

Calvin outscored Kalamazoo 3-1 in the third quarter with Winkler, Schaefer and Bontreger all scoring goals.

The Knights enjoyed a 3-1 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter as well as Winkler, Griffin and Ray scored for the Knights.

Winkler scored a career-high four goals to go with one assist. Ray had three goals while Schaefer and Bontreger had two goals apiece. Griffin had a goal and an assist while Nedd, freshman Jonathan Miller (Boise, Id./Ambrose School) and freshman Hunter Naggs (Cedarburg, Wisc./Cedarburg HS) all had one assist apiece.

Sophomore Ethan Brown (Famouth, ME/Falmouth HS) had a game-high eight ground balls while Nedd had six. Brown and sophomore Austin Roden (Delaware, Oh./Delaware Christian HS) caused three turnovers apiece.

Freshman goalie Tristan Parece (Kelowna, BC/Kelowna Secondary School) tallied 11 saves to boost his season total to 228 saves while lowering his final season goals-against-average to 13.15.

"It was a good way to end the season," said Calvin men's lacrosse coach Luke Griemsman. "Kalamazoo is a disciplined team and they caught us on the counter attack early. We had to dig down a little deeper to come back and I'm pleased that we showed the resiliency to win. This was a very enjoyable team to coach."

Calvin concludes the 2016 season with an overall record of 6-10 and a conference record of 1-6. The six-win total is a program high, surpassing the two-win total achieved by Calvin's 2013, 2014 and 2015 teams.

"While our overall record was not a winning one, we made significant progress this season," said Griemsman. "We were a competitive program and no one was able to take us lightly. Most importantly, I think each member of this team has a continued excitement for the game of lacrosse. The future is bright with this program."