GRAND RAPIDS, Mich - Today the Calvin women's soccer team welcomed the Flying Dutch of Hope College for this year's edition of The Rivalry. This is the 65th matchup between the two teams and coming into today the Knights lead the series 38-19-7. Over the past 35 years Calvin has scored 130 goals while Hope has scored 72.
In the first half both teams created many opportunities but were unable to capitalize. The best chance for either side came in the 43rd minute when Hope was awarded a corner kick. The ball was sent arching into the box where it ricocheted around before falling to the feet of a Dutch attacker. She wound up and took a rocketing shot at the goal but Calvin goalkeeper Kalex Dodge (Leslie, Mich./Leslie) showed off her quick reflexes and made a terrific save. The ball remained in play and the Dutch sent another shot at Dodge who once again kept the ball out of the net to keep the game at 0-0 at halftime.
As the second half got underway the Knights ramped up their attack as they peppered the Hope defense with shots. In the 49th minute Mikaela Waroway (Ann Arbor, Mich./Father Gabriel Richard) claimed possession deep in Dutch territory. She took a few touches before sending the ball into the center of the eighteen towards a streaking Liz Williams (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian). However, just before Williams could get a touch a Dutch defender slid in and deflected the into the back of the Dutch for what would go into the stat sheet as an own goal to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.
In the 76th Kaitlyn Van Laare (Toronto, Mich./Toronto District Christian) gathered the ball with a bit of open field space to work with. As she moved up the field she drew several Hope defenders to her and allowed Williams to get open. Van Laare sent a pass to Williams who was about seven yards outside the Hope eighteen yard box. She took one touch before turning and sending a shot high out of the Dutch goalkeeper's reach to secure the Knights 2-0 victory.
The Knights improved to a 10-0-2 record with a 4-0 MIAA record which puts them in first place in the league.
COACHES COMMENTS: "I thought it was a good game," said head coach Emily Ottenhoff. "We knew it would be a challenging game between two really good teams. I thought Hope had a ton of press in the first half but in the second half we did a better job of connecting passes, moving for each other, and giving support. Good to get a win today but we know we have a lot of challenging games ahead."
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back on the pitch on Tuesday, October 10th when they welcome Adrian for a 7PM kickoff.
