The Calvin-Hope men's soccer rivalry has an exciting new chapter – and that chapter ends with a Calvin victory.

In what is believed to be the first time in the history of the men's soccer rivalry between the two schools, Calvin withstood a potential game-tying penalty kick opportunity by Hope inside the final three minutes to gain a wild 3-1 victory.

With Calvin holding on to a 2-1 lead, the Knights were whistled for a foul just inside the 18-yard box with Hope awarded a penalty kick with just 2:32 left in regulation. Hope's Ethan Jansen stepped up to take the spot kick and sent a low show down the middle. Calvin's 6-6 senior goalkeeper Daniel Wunder (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) dove to his right on the play but using his length to his advantage, reached out with his leg to make a clutch kick save. To complete the wild finish, Calvin senior Oliver Akintade (Lake Forest, Il./Lake Forest HS) was awarded a penalty kick with just 3.1 seconds left after Hope had flooded the field forward in the closing seconds. Akintade was able to rush through the Hope box and was bumped to the ground. Akintade made no mistake on his penalty, slipping a low shot into the corner of the goal to give Calvin a 3-1 lead and the final margin of victory.

Calvin took a 1-0 lead in the 28^th minute of the match as senior Zach Flowerday (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) fired a shot from the left-side of the Hope six-yard box. Flowerday's shot was initially saved but the rebound deflected off of a handful of defenders and sophomore Jacob Ryu (Naperville, Il./Naperville North HS) was able to toe-poke the rebound just inside the post amidst the goal-mouth scramble.

Hope was able to sustain pressure on the Calvin side of the field over the final 15 minutes of the first half and came up with a free kick just outside Calvin's 18-yard box from the center of the pitch. Hope's Mario Hrvojevic sent a looping shot over the Calvin wall and into the upper right hand side of the goal to tie the match 1-1 with 1:34 left in the half. Calvin nearly regained the lead in the final minute on a shot from the left hand side of the six-yard box by sophomore Jonah Myer-Crothers (Sylvania, Oh./) that just sailed wide of the opposite post.

Calvin took that same momentum into the opening moments of the second half and found the go-ahead goal on a one-two combination between Akintade and senior Chris Schau (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS). Akintade was able to free Schau near the top of the 18 with a lead pass and Schau lifted a shot over the goalkeeper's head for his seventh goal of the year.

Calvin had a handful of quality scoring chances over the next 15 minutes on set piece plays but Hope goalkeeper Daniel Hesselbein came up with a pair of diving saves off Calvin headers in the box.

Needing a tying goal, Hope stepped up its attack in the final 20 minutes and received a series of free kicks in or around the Calvin 18-yard box. Calvin's defense kept the ball out of the net during the flurry highlighted by Wunder who came up with a crucial save in the 72^nd minute, deflecting a shot headed for the far right corner by AJ Boucher just wide of the post.

Moments later, a cross into the Calvin box deflected off a defender and came down near the goal line. Calvin junior Ethan Brown (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores HS) was able to head the ball just off the line and out of danger.

Calvin appeared poised to kill the closing five minutes of regulation but a defensive turnover led to a Hope run through the box, leading to the penalty kick awarded to the Dutchmen and Wunder's last-minute heroics.

The Calvin victory snapped Hope's seven-match unbeaten streak and allowed the 17^th-ranked Knights to improve to 9-2-1 overall and 2-0-0 in the MIAA.

Hope finished with a 17-11 shots at goal advantage. Wunder have five saves for the Knights while Hesselbein had four saves for the Flying Dutchmen.

COACHES COMMENT: "Just an unbelievable victory against a really talented and well-coached Hope team," said Calvin head men's soccer coach Ryan Souders. "First of all, a huge shout-out to our crowd for showing up and supporting us on a cold and windy night. They were a huge boost. The saves that Daniel made down the stretch were incredible. Obviously the save on the penalty was massive but the save on the shot headed for the far post (by Boucher) was equally important. I'm really proud of our team for finding a way to get three massive points in the league standings. We still have a lot of improvement that we need to make but we will take this win and enjoy it the rest of this weekend."

NEXT UP: Calvin travels to Alma next Wednesday for a 4 p.m. conference match at Alma's Scotland Yard.