GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A valiant comeback effort came up just short for the Calvin women's lacrosse team as it dropped a 16-15 sudden-death overtime decision to Kalamazoo College Wednesday night at Zuidema Field.

Calvin overcame a 15-10 deficit with five minutes left to play, tying the game on a goal by sophomore Morgan Bethard (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt HS) with six seconds left in regulation.

In overtime, Calvin had a possession and a shot to win but Kalamazoo came up with a save with a minute-and-a-half left and went on to fire in the game-winning goal with 11 seconds left in the first overtime session to seal the win.

Calvin led 5-4 after one quarter of play but the Hornets (7-1 overall, 2-0 MIAA) outscored the Knights 7-2 in the second quarter to build an 11-7 halftime lead. Kalamazoo scored five unanswered goals in the second quarter in building its four-goal halftime edge.

Out of the halftime break, Calvin showed fight as it scored the first three goals of the third quarter with the first two goals coming on free position shots by junior Meghan Chang (Clarksburg, Md./Clarksburg HS) and sophomore Jacey Smith (Watertown, Wisc./Watertown HS) scoring unassisted to make an 11-10 game with more than 11 minutes left in the third quarter.

Kalamazoo went on another scoring run, scoring four straight goals to build a 15-10 fourth quarter lead.

Calvin's comeback bid began with a free position blast by Bethard that made it 15-11 with 4:53 remaining. Freshman goalie Margee Boelema (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) came up with a key save on a free position shot by the Hornets and Chang followed with a goal with 3:14 left. The Knights were whistled for a yellow card with 2:54 remaining but Calvin forced a Hornet turnover leading to an unassisted goal by Bethard with the Knights down a play. Chang won the ensuing draw control and Bethard followed with another goal – this one coming with 1:54 left to make it a 15-14 game.

Calvin (3-9 overall, 0-2 MIAA) was whistled for another yellow card as it fought to regain possession of the ball with the yellow coming with 1:04 remaining. Down one player, Calvin refused to quit as Bethard forced a Kalamazoo turnover along the sideline with 47 seconds left to regain possession of the ball. The Knights worked the ball down field and got the ball to Bethard near the left edge of the Kalamazoo cage. Bethard cranked a shot with six seconds left in to tie the game on a man-down situation.

In overtime, Kalamazoo won the opening draw control and had a free position shot as well as a rebound chance both sail high of the Calvin goal. A Kalamazoo turnover allowed Calvin a chance to win the game but a shot by freshman Alex Petrusha was snared by Kalamazoo goalie Jordan Flink. The Hornets then cleared the ball up the field and produced the game-winning score.

Bethard matched a career-high in goals with five scores on seven shots to go with three draw controls.

Smith had a career-high five goals for the Knights to go with two ground balls and three caused turnovers. Chang was superb with four goals, six draw controls and two caused turnovers.

Senior Kelly Ruha (New Hope, Minn. Robbinsville Armstrong) had one goal. Boelema had nine saves and five ground balls.

Calvin finished with a 32-27 shots at goal advantage but Kalamazoo was able to win 21 draw controls to Calvin's 14.

COACHES COMMENT: "I think we learned a lot about us tonight," said Calvin head women's lacrosse coach Blake Boehm. "We're competing well and playing with a chip on our shoulders. We proved to ourselves that we're never out of a game. We're a young team plagued with injuries, and it would be easy for our players to discredit themselves, but they have not done so. It was great to see players step up at pivotal times and lead us forward. Tonight was about defining who we want to be for the remainder of the season, and it's clear to me that they're fighters ad they have significant goals yet to accomplish."

NEXT UP: Calvin will host Albion on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Zuidema Field.