GRAND RAPIDS - The Calvin women's soccer team closed the regular season with a 2-0 win over Albion at Zuidema Field before celebrating its third consecutive MIAA regular season championship.

The Knights also celebrated a new program single-seasonrecord with its 15th shutout in the win.

Calvin couldn't have gotten off to a better start in the early going as Kaitlyn Van Laare (Toronto, Ont./Toronto District Christian) followed her own blocked shot with a goal from inside the box to give the Knights an early 1-0 lead just 2:26 into the first half. The goal was Van Laare's third of the season.

The Knights had several chances to add to the lead in the first half and finally did with just 27 seconds left before the break as Lucy Iverson (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) got on the end of a free kick from Karley Michmerhuizen (Grandville, Mich./Unity Christian) for her fifth tally of the season to send Calvin into halftime with a 2-0 lead.

Calvin continued to press in the second half and had a chance to add to its lead with a penalty kick in the 556th minute, but Albion keeper Becca Ross stopped Mia Judd's (Grand Ledge, Mich./Lansing Christian) attempt to keep the score 2-0.

Two goals would be more than enough, however, as keeper Kalex Dodge (Leslie, Mich./Leslie) stopped both of the Briton's shots that reached the goal for her 15th shutout of the season.

Calvin out-shot the Britons 21-5 for the game, including an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Knights also held a 10-0 advantage in corner kicks.

The Knights improved to 15-0-1 on the season and 7-0-1 in MIAA play with the win. Albion fell to 7-4-4 overall and 4-3-1 in league play in defeat.

COACH'S COMMENT: "Always great to get a goal really early. That helps a ton and is something we're always aiming for to score the first goal, no matter how long it takes to get it," Calvin women's soccer head coach Emily Ottenhoff said. "And the second one was a nice clutch goal there at the end (of the first half). I thought we had a few other chances where we could have scored, but I don't really care how the ball goes in the net. I just want it to go in there."

You can hear more from coach Ottenhoff about the Knights' shutout record and MIAA regular season championship if you watch the video below:



NEXT UP: Calvin women's soccer enters the MIAA Postseason Tournament as the number one seed, and will host the semi-final game of the tournament on Wednesday, November 2.