Box Score (Photo Courtesy of Paulson Photography)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin women's soccer team wrapped up its second consecutive MIAA regular season title, defeating Kalamazoo 1-0 Tuesday evening at Zuidema Field.
With the win, Calvin (13-3-0 overall) completes its 2021 MIAA regular season with a 7-1-0 conference mark, five points ahead of second place Albion and Hope.
As the MIAA regular season champion, Calvin will be the top seed for the upcoming MIAA Tournament and will receive a bye in the first round which opens Saturday. Calvin will host an MIAA Tournament semifinal game next Tuesday night at Zuidema Field against the winner of a first round MIAA Tournament game (scheduled for Saturday) between Trine and Adrian.
Senior Jessica Paulson (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian HS) scored the game's only goal. The goal was her first since October 2 and her fifth of the year.
The game-winning tally came in the 12th of play and began with a perfectly chipped lead pass from sophomore Elizabeth Williams (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) that sprung sophomore Sophie Mueller (North Muskegon, Mich./North Muskegon HS) free up the right wing. Mueller drew the defense to her then slide a crossing pass through the box that sophomore Kaitlyn Van Laare (Toronto, Ont./Toronto District Christian HS) allowed to continue past her and to the feet of Paulson. Paulson made no mistake, ripping the shot from the left side of the box into an open net to give the Knights a 1-0 lead with Mueller and Van Laare receiving assists on the play.
Calvin continued to pepper the Kalamazoo goal over the next 10 minutes before the Hornets began to turn the tide late first half.
Kalamazoo (10-5-0 overall 4-4-0 MIAA) created a pair of dangerous runs inside the final five minutes of the half including a shot by Kai Ketola that sailed over the bar in the closing seconds.
Kalamazoo quickly earned a corner kick to open the second half and then hit the crossbar with a shot from distance by striker Larkin O'Gorman.
Calvin senior goalkeeper Sarah Hoekwater (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) then was forced into a challenging save moments later on a shot in the box by Savera Rajendra-Nicolucci. In the 71st minute, Kalamazoo's Olivia Oswald slipped a shot behind Hoekwater but the Calvin defense was in front of the back line and cleared the shot away.
Calvin began to possess the ball as time ticked on and kept the Hornets from advancing into scoring position over the final minutes of play to seal the shutout win and clinch the outright MIAA title.
Calvin finished with a 19-12 shots at goal advantage. Hoekwater had seven saves in posting the shutout victory. Madison Barch had nine saves in goal for Kalamazoo.
COACHES COMMENT: "Another tough matchup with Kalamazoo tonight," said Calvin head women's soccer coach Emily Ottenhoff. "They played hard and put a ton of pressure on us. Glad we were able to find the go-ahead goal early and hold them off at the end. I'm excited for our group in winning the regular season title. It's not easy to do in this conference and we don't' take it for granted. We know there is a bigger challenge ahead and we will have to get back to work to prepare for our next opponent."
NEXT UP: Calvin will host the MIAA Tournament semifinals next Tuesday at Zuidema Field against the winner of a first round MIAA Tournament game between Trine and Adrian.
MIAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET INFORMATION
