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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin men's lacrosse team defeated Alma 16-6 Friday night on the campus of Aquinas College in a game that served as the final regular season home for the Knights.

Calvin improved to 7-9 overall and 2-3 in the MIAA with the win.

The Knights treated a large home crowd to a sharp offensive display as they fired off 60 shots at goal including a 21-4 advantage in the third quarter when they pulled away for the win.

Calvin scored the first four goals of the game and led 5-1 after one quarter of play. Senior Josh Newhouse (Grand Junction, Co./Palisades HS) scored pair of goals in the opening minutes and then assisted senior Chase Sparling (Novi, Mich./Novi HS) on a score to give the Knights a 3-0 advantage.

Senior Ethan Curtis (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern HS) and sophomore Thomas Smith (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich./Grosse Pointe South HS) then added late first quarter goals to help give the Knights a four-goal advantage.

Senior Robert Miner (Littleton, Co./Columbine HS) scored a man-up goal in the opening seconds of the second quarter but Alma (2-9 overall, 0-4 MIAA) scored the final three goals of quarter to trail just 6-4 at halftime.

Smith and Miner opened the third quarter however with back-to-back man-up goals which fueled an 8-2 scoring surge that boosted Calvin into a 14-6 lead.

Smith and sophomore Nick Griffith (Geneva, Fla./Oviedo HS) added fourth quarter goals to complete the scoring.

Sparling had a big game with a goal, five assists and four ground balls. Smith, Miner, Newhouse and Curtis all had hat-trick performances with three goals apiece. Sophomore Josh Moyer (Laurys Station, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic HS) and Griffith had one goal apiece. Moyer scooped up five ground balls.

Sophomore Josh Gage (Livonia, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central HS)) caused four Alma turnovers. Freshman Nate Hanson (Naperville, Il./Naperville North HS) was 14 of 21 on faceoffs and picked up nine ground balls. Junior Corgan Schaumburg (Rockton, Ill. Hononegah) had 12 saves in 50 minutes of action. Sophomore Carter Sherman (Ada, Mich./Lowell HS) and freshman Soren Thiemann (Plano, Tx./Plano Senior High School) split the remaining minutes in goal.

COACHES COMMENT: "We had a great team win tonight," said Calvin head men's lacrosse coach Dave Hoger. "It's been a really hard week with the last two games and I was proud of the way the guys rallied together and focused on doing the little things right and playing for each other tonight. It was also nice to play in front of a big home crowd and I thought we gained energy from our fans. We are very appreciative of their support. Excited for the momentum we created to carry over into a huge game next week to finish off the regular season."

NEXT UP: Calvin will travel to rival Hope next Friday for a 7 p.m. contest.