Box Score GRANVILLE, Oh. – A furious second half comeback effort came up just short as the Knights dropped a 3-2 decision at Denison University Saturday afternoon.
Denison (4-0-0) put the pressure on Calvin (3-1-0) throughout the first half and broke through for goals in the 22nd and 28th minute, en route to taking a 2-0 halftime lead. The Big Red outshot Calvin 9-1 in the first half.
In the 71st minute, Calvin sophomore Elizabeth Williams (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) cut the deficit in half, jumping on a ball initially delivered off a free kick and knocking home a shot for her fourth goal of the season.
Five minutes later, Calvin freshman Talia List (Plymouth, Mich./Salem HS) got loose off a corner kick and popped home a shot for the equalizer. The goal was the third of the weekend for List.
Still swarming the Denison goal, Calvin received another corner kick minutes later with junior Karley Michmerhuizen (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) firing a shot just high.
In the 85th minute, Calvin junior Anna Reimink (Winona Lake, Ind./Lakeland Christian Academy) forced the Denison goalkeeper into making a key save.
Denison then flipped the tables just over a minute later with striker Ellie Reiser breaking free and scoring the go-ahead goal on a feed from teammate Amy Chiero.
The goal came with just 4:56 left in regulation and sealed the win for Denison.
Denison finished with an 11-7 shots at goal advantage overall but the Knights outshot the Big Red 6-2 in the second half.
Freshman Emma Swain (Salt Lake City, UT/West HS) went the first half in goal for Calvin and collected three saves. Senior Sarah Hoekwater (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) went the final 45 minutes in nets for the Knights and posted one save.
COACHES COMMENT: "A tough result for us on the road today," said Calvin head women's soccer coach Emily Ottenhoff after the match. "I really liked our resolve in tying it up in the second half but we weren't able to find a go-ahead goal. Denison is a very good team and they challenged in a lot of different ways throughout the match. Credit to them. We look forward to getting back to work this week for our next matches."
NEXT UP: Calvin will host Manchester on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Zuidema Field.
