HOLLAND, Mich. – The Calvin men's lacrosse team fought rival Hope on even terms for one half of play Friday night but ultimately fell 17-9 in the regular season finale for both teams.

Calvin concludes the regular season at 7-10 overall and 2-4 in the MIAA. 

In the game at Hope Friday night, Calvin traded goals with Hope (11-5 overall, 5-1 MIAA) throughout the first half before trailing 8-7 at halftime. Calvin led 2-1 after a pair of early goals from senior Robert Miner (Littleton, Co./Columbine HS).  Hope went back up 4-2 before sophomore Jacob Bledsoe (Mission Viejo, Calif. J. Serra Catholic) fired in a pass from sophomore Christian Coler (Ionia, N.Y. Honeyoye Falls-Lima) to make it 4-3 after one quarter of play.

Sophomore Thomas Smith (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich./Grosse Pointe South HS) scored early second quarter goals to keep Calvin within a goal at 6-5. Hope went up 7-5 but senior Josh Newhouse (Grand Junction, Co./Palisade HS) and Coler scored for Calvin to make it 7-7. The goal by Coler was on a man-up opportunity and marked Calvin's third goal of the half with a man advantage. Hope scored with three minutes left in the second quarter to take an 8-7 advantage into halftime.

The third quarter belonged to Hope as the Flying Dutchmen kept possession of the ball and fired in six unanswered goals to lead 14-7. Smith scored with six seconds left in the quarter to notch the hat trick and make it 14-8 heading into the final quarter of play.

Senior Chase Sparling (Novi, Mich./Novi HS) scored with 11:13 remaining but Hope outscored Calvin 3-1 in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Smith had three goals and an assist while Miner had two goals.  Sparling a goal and two assists as did Coler. Newhouse had a goal and an assist while Bledsoe had one goal.

Sophomore Josh Gage (Livonia, Mich. Detroit Catholic Central)  had nine ground balls and forced four Hope turnovers. Coler and freshman Nate Hanson (Naperville, Il./Naperville North HS) had five ground balls apiece. Hanson was 15-for-30 on faceoff opportunities.

Junior Corgan Schaumburg (Rockton, Ill. Hononegah)  had 16 saves in goal for the Knights.

Hope outshot Calvin 57-35 including 15-3 in the pivotal third quarter.

COACHES COMMENT: "I thought we were capitalizing on their mistakes in the first half and minimized our mistakes at the same time," said Calvin head men's lacrosse coach Dave Hoger. "That kind of reversed in the second half and got on a bit of a run. They capitalized on our mistakes and really made it difficult for us to score. Credit to Hope for that. We have great respect for their program but we feel we are making strides forward. I want to credit my seniors. They have played a big role in moving our program forward and continuing to establish a strong foundation."