GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Calvin stretched its win streak to eight games and improved to 10-1-0 overall with a 5-0 conference victory over Albion Saturday afternoon at Calvin Soccer Stadium.
Ranked 13
th nationally, the Knights are now 3-0-0 in conference play heading into the heart of their league fixture list.
Calvin led 2-0 at halftime and added three second half goals as its offense picked up steam as the match progressed.
Albion (6-5-0 overall, 1-2-0 MIAA) threatened in the first half as striker Kelsi Green got loose for a shot in the Calvin box but Calvin junior goalkeeper
Aubree Lee (Lowell, Mich./Lowell HS) was up to the task with a diving save in the ninth minute of play.
Junior winger
Ellery Boeving (Howell, Mich./Howell HS) began to create chances for the Knights shortly after. She ignited Calvin's first goal, receiving a pass from freshman
Jordan Kerns (Byron Center, Mich./Byron Center HS) along the left wing and lofting a well-placed ball into the Albion six-yard box. Senior
Mikaela Waroway (Ann Arbor, Mich./Gabriel Richard HS) made good use of the pass, beating the Albion backline and one-timing a volley into the roof of the Albion goal for a 1-0 Calvin lead. The goal came in the 18
th minute of play.
Green nearly leveled the match in the 23
rd minute, one-timing a shot over the Calvin bar after receiving a pass in the 18-yard box from teammate Diane Hurtado.
It was all Calvin from that point on.
Junior
Vivian Nagelkirk (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) put Calvin up 2-0 with a goal in the 32
nd minute. Boeving was the initiator again, moving through the left wing and ringing a shot off the far goalpost that rebounded right to the feet of Nagelkirk who made no mistake in depositing her third goal of the season into the back of the net.
Less than five minutes into the second half, Waroway struck again, this time for her team-leading 11
th goal of the season. The play began with a blast from the left wing by outside back
Katherine Bergman (Farmington Hills, Mich./Farmington HS). The shot was saved by the Albion goalkeeper, but the rebound came right to Waroway who poked in the rebound for her second goal of the match.
Calvin took a 4-0 lead in the 54
th minute as freshman
Bianca Juncaj (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington HS) sent a back-pass to junior
Nora Kucinski (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern HS) that Kucinski blasted from 25 yards out into the top shelf of the Albion net.
Calvin closed out the scoring in the 83
rd minute as sophomore
Zoe Zylstra (Cedar Falls, Ia./Cedar Falls HS) poked in a left-footed shot from in close off a feed from sophomore
Alexa Boersma (Caledonia, Mich./South Christian HS).
Calvin finished the match with a 31-4 shots at goal advantage. Lee had two saves in goal for Calvin in picking up her eighth shutout victory of the season. Albion had a pair of goalkeepers split time in goal with Libby Wisiewski collecting three saves and Marleigh Chapman recording four saves.
COACHES COMMENT: "We are happy to get a result today against a gritty Albion team," said Calvin head women's soccer coach
Emily Ottenhoff. "I am pleased with our group's ability to get on the scoreboard twice in the first half to change the game. We still have a lot of growing to do as a group and look forward to getting back to work on Monday."
NEXT UP: Calvin will host Trine next Wednesday in a 7 p.m. match at Calvin Soccer Stadium.
