GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Today the Calvin women's soccer team captured its fourth straight MIAA Tournament Championship when it defeated Hope College in thrilling fashion. Today 2-1 victory over the Flying Dutch also marked head coach Emily Ottenhoff's 100th career win at the helm for the Knights.
 
In the first half, both teams worked hard to create scoring chances as they battled for momentum. The Knights best chance came in the 25th minute when a header from junior Peyton Pratt (Middleville, Mich./Thornapple Kellogg) of a corner kick went just high enough to float harmlessly over the goal.
 
Liz Williams (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) and Katherine Bergman (Farmington Hills, Mich./Farmington) both had shots that sailed wide while Mia Judd (Grand Ledge, Mich./Lansing Christian) one shot was blocked by a Hope defender. On the other end of the field, the Knight defense made scoring for the Flying Dutch just as difficult and the teams headed into halftime deadlocked at 0-0.
 
As the second half got underway the Knights looked to put more pressure on the Hope defense as they fired off shot after shot. Finally, in 68th minute, senior Kiah Nichols (Hastings, Mich./Thornapple Kellogg) collected the ball just inside the eighteen-yard box and surged forward. She dribbled around one Hope defender before sending a shot past the diving goalkeeper to give Calvin the 1-0 lead.
 
Now, desperate for an equalizer, Hope threw everything it had at the Calvin defense as it peppered goalkeeper Kalex Dodge (Leslie, Mich./Leslie) with shots. In the 86th minute, Hope was awarded a corner kick where it sent a perfect ball right to the head of a Flying Dutch attacker and suddenly the game was tied up once again.
 
With time quickly ticking off the clock and overtime looming the Knights saw one last scoring opportunity junior Katherine Bergman (Farmington Hills, Mich./Farmington) won possession deep in Hope territory. After creating a bit of space, she found Mikaela Waroway (Ann Arbor, Mich./Father Gabriel Richard) who carried the ball further up the right side of the field. With Hope defenders closing in and only forty-five seconds left on the clock, Waroway sent a cross into the middle of the field. At first it looked like Hope would have an opportunity to clear the threat as several Flying Dutch defenders were in the box but senior CeCe McCarthy (Ypsilanti, Mich./Father Gabriel Richard) had other plans. At the last second, she came flying through the mass of bodies to redirect the ball with her head and send it into the bottom right hand corner of the net for a Calvin goal.
 
Less than a minute later the final seconds ran off the game clock and the Knights were once again crowned MIAA Tournament Champions. Calvin finished the game out shooting Hope 16-9 while Dodge recorded four saves.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "Unbelievable result for our team today," said head coach Emily Ottenhoff. "It was everything you'd expect from a championship match between two rivals and great teams. I asked our women to compete to the 90th minute and they did just that. Excited for another opportunity to play in the national tournament next weekend!"
 
UP NEXT: The Knights earned the MIAA automatic bid into the NCAA DIII Tournament and will await to find out their postseason fate in the NCAA Selection Show which airs at 11AM on Monday, November 10th.