GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin women's soccer team captured its first MIAA Tournament title since 2015 including its first under third-year head coach Emily Ottenhoff Friday night at Zuidema Field. The Knights defeated Kalamazoo 3-0 in the 2021 Spring MIAA Tournament title game to complete a perfect spring campaign that saw the Knights go 8-0-0.

Calvin stunned the Hornets with two goals in the first eight minutes of the game with the opening goal coming just 53 seconds into the match.

The Knights went on the front foot early, forcing a corner kick in the opening seconds. Freshman Elizabeth Williams (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) whistled a corner to the right side of the box that was headed back to the far post by senior Karley Babcock (Paw Paw, Mich./Paw Paw HS). The header by Babcock found the back of the net and gave Calvin an early 1-0 lead.

Calvin struck again just 7:39 into the match when freshman Sophie Mueller (North Muskegon, Mich./North Muskegon HS) broke free through the right wing, carried a ball into the box and slipped a short crossing pass to freshman teammate Kaitlyn VanLaare (Brampton, Ont./Toronto District Christian HS). VanLaare beat a defender to the ball and tapped the ball into a wide-open net for her third goal of the season.

The final goal of the evening came off the right foot of Williams by way of a penalty kick. The Knights were awarded a penalty kick when senior Maria VanderLei (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) chipped a ball into the box that skipped off the turf and off a defender's hand, drawing a hand ball call in the box. Williams made no mistake on the penalty, cranking a shot into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season. The spot kick by Williams came with just 7:39 left in the first half.

Calvin's defense held firm throughout the second half with the Hornets (6-3-0) creating a handful of quality scoring chances in the final 10 minutes but not finding the back of the net.

The MIAA Tournament title is Calvin's seventh which leads all MIAA schools. Adrian had captured the previous two MIAA Tournament titles.

Calvin finished the game with a 13-8 shots at goal advantage. Senior goalkeeper Amy Kliewer (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern HS) had one save in posting her seventh shutout of the season including the 24th of her collegiate career.

Calvin is now 4-2-1 against Kalamazoo in the MIAA Tournament and is now 7-1-0 in MIAA Tournament Championship games. 

COACHES COMMENT: "We are really thankful for the ability to play this spring and particularly thankful to our administration for helping make this season a possibility," said Calvin head women's soccer coach Emily Ottenhoff. "Since February, the season has been a bit of a sprint. A big part of our season has been our group of seniors who went through a tough 2019 season and were looking for some redemption this spring. We talked a lot about winning, taking it day by day and game by game. We had some talented newcomers and our upperclassmen helped them blend in when we had our fall practice season. At times, we didn't know for sure if we would have a spring season. We just kept going day by day and making the best of it. This season was a grind but it was also a lot of fun. I think everyone is grateful for the year and will also be looking forward to a little down time as well."