DELAWARE, Oh. – Facing one of its oldest non-conference rivals, the Calvin men's soccer team used a late second half surge to claim a 2-1 comeback victory over No. 21 Ohio Wesleyan (0-2-2) Saturday night at the Fred Myers Invitational.
The win is Calvin's third over a nationally-ranked opponent including its second of the weekend as the Knights had defeated Hanover 2-1 Friday night.
Calvin (4-0-1) trailed 1-0 at halftime but used a pair of
Chris Schau (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) goals just 1:49 apart in the closing minutes to claim the win.
Schau's first goal came in the 77
th minute as freshman
Jonah Meyer-Crothers (Sylvania, Oh./Sylvania-Northview HS) made a rush up the left wing and sent a cross into the box that Schau was able to run on to and finish for the equalizer. Just under two minutes later, Schau pounced on a loose ball in the box and whipped home a shot from the center of the pitch to give the Knights a stunning 2-1 lead.
Ohio Wesleyan had a pair of shots inside the final five minutes with one sailing wide and the other saved by senior goalkeeper
Daniel Wunder (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS).
The two sides finished with 12 shots apiece. Wunder had five saves in goal for the Knights.
COACHES COMMENT: "What a great win for our guys," said Calvin head men's soccer coach
Ryan Souders. "I thought we were really good in a lot of moments. The ball moved well and we were dangerous at various times throughout the match. That's a really good team and this is an exceptionally difficult place to get a result. But our guys fought and clawed their way back and found a way. We'll enjoy it, and the day off tomorrow before getting back to work next week!"
KNIGHT NOTES: At the conclusion of Saturday's game, Schau was named the tournament MVP. He was joined on the Fred Myers All-Tournament Team by Calvin teammmates
Aguma Muhumuza,
Oliver Akintade and
Jacob Ryu.
NEXT UP: Calvin will host Millikin University next Wednesday at Zuidema Field at 5 p.m.