GAMBIER, OH – The Calvin men's soccer team saw its season come to an end with a 3-2 defeat to Hamilton College (NY) in a first round NCAA III Tournament game Friday afternoon on the campus of Kenyon College.

Calvin struck first, scoring on a goal by senior Alex White (Lake Bluff, Il./Lake Forest Academy) just 5:48 into the match. White roared through the left wing, beat a defender with a dribble and blasted shot inside the upper right-hand post to give the Knights a 1-0 lead. The goal was the 17^th of the season for White.

Hamilton (8-6-3) used set piece plays to its advantage to take a 2-1 lead. A corner kick in the 17^th minute led to a deflected ball in the Calvin box that Hamilton was able to head twice with the second connection coming off the head of Pandelis Margaronis and into the back of the net to tie the score 1-1. A corner kick in the 27^th minute led to another Margaronis goal as he banged in a rebound shot to give the Continentals a 2-1 lead.
Calvin (14-6-2) nearly leveled the match with just under 10 minutes left in the half as sophomore Foster Garrett (Canton, Mich./Salem HS) received a ball near the six-yard box, whirled a sent a shot that sailed just over the cross bar. Senior Zach Flowerday (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) came close again just three minutes later as his shot from the left wing was parried over the bar by Hamilton keeper Finn Wheeler.

Hamilton put pressure on Calvin early in the second half and broke through for a third goal in the 58^th minute off the foot of Charles Hawthorn.

Calvin came close in the 81^st minute but a blast by freshman Colin Nieuwenhuis (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) was saved by Wheeler.

With just 36 seconds remaining, Nieuwenhuis found Hauk for a goal – his eighth of the season - to bring the Knights within one but a last-ditch drive in the closing seconds came up short for Calvin as Hamilton held on for the 3-2 win.

Hamilton held a 15-10 shots at goal advantage. Senior Kaelen Matascastillo (New Kesington, Pa./Minnesota Virtual Academy) had two saves in one half of play with senior Zac Moore (Pilesgrove, N.J. Woodstown) recording one save in the other half of play for the Knights.

Calvin was making its 10^th NCAA III Tournament appearance since 2014 including its 11^th under current head coach Ryan Souders.

COACHES COMMENT: "Obviously disappointed but credit to Hamilton. They made it difficult for us," said Calvin head men's soccer coach Ryan Souders. "Hamilton played a physical game that maybe we aren't used to. I felt like we did some really good things today. Had a couple of great goals and created some other really good chances but that's soccer. I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud to be a Calvin Knight.  I'm thankful to our seniors. I think a lot of people wrote us off when we had some struggles in the non-conference but our seniors refused to give up on us. They continued to lead and helped us get to this point. We are extremely grateful to them for that."