KALAMAZOO, Mich. – A pair of magic moments from Calvin senior
Matt Torrell propelled the Calvin men's soccer team to a 3-0 victory at Kalamazoo College Tuesday evening at Makenzie Field.
With the win, Calvin captured the outright MIAA regular season championship – its first since 2023 and its 35
th overall.
The Knights will be the top seed for the MIAA Tournament presented by Collegiate Credit Union which opens with first round play on Saturday. As one of the top two seeds, Calvin receives a first-round bye and will host an MIAA Tournament semifinal game next Tuesday at 7 p.m. against the winner of a first round matchup between (#4) Kalamazoo and (#5) Adrian.
Kalamazoo (8-8-1 overall, 4-3-0 MIAA) had Calvin (14-1-2 overall, 6-0-1 MIAA) on the back foot at times in the first half as the Hornets outshot the Knights 6-4 through the opening 45 minutes.
Calvin had he best scoring chance of the first half in the 28
th minute as senior
Foster Garrett (Canton, Mich./Salem HS) broke free through the right wing on a counterattack and had an open net from a tight angle. His shot slid past the goalkeeper and the Kalamazoo back line but bounced inches wide of the post.
Kalamazoo fired four shots at the Calvin goal inside the final 15 minutes of the half including a blast by Jake Sweet that Calvin junior goalkeeper
John Hargett (Powell, Oh./Olentangy HS) had to parry over the bar to keep the game level.
Torrell (Rochester, NY/The Charles Finney School) then provided his first bit of magic 2:23 into the second half as he received a cross from junior
Mats Bramer (Dortmund, Germany/ Bert-Brecht Gymnasium) along the left wing, slide past a defender with a soft touch and from an acute angle bent a curling shot that dipped over the Kalamazoo goalkeeper, just inside the far post and into the net for a stunning 1-0 lead.
The second magic touch came just over three minutes later from the same combination. Bramer broke free through the right wing, drew the ball near the end-line and chipped a high cross through the goalmouth. Torrell met the cross near the six-yard box and lashed a full-volley. The searing smash by Torrell crashed off the goalkeeper's outstretched glove, off the near post and into the net for a 2-0 Calvin advantage. The goal was the 10th of the season for Torrell.
Junior
Colin Nieuwenhuis (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) provided the clincher in the 73
rd minute, chipping in a soft shot past the goalkeeper for a 3-0 lead. The play was ignited by sophomore
Josh Little (Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville HS) who whirled with the ball in the left corner and lofted a soft pass to an on-rushing Nieuwenhuis that left the Kalamazoo defense flat-footed. The goal was the 11th of the season for Nieuwenhuis and allowed him to finish tied for first place in the final MIAA league scoring race with 13 points.
Calvin held strong from there to collect the win and the MIAA regular season title.
Hargett had a strong game in net with three saves as he collected his sixth full shutout of the season.
Calvin finished with a 16-9 shots at goal advantage including 12-3 in the second half.
COACHES COMMENT: "A really gutsy win tonight," said Calvin head men's soccer coach
Ryan Souders. "Kalamazoo took us out of so much of what we wanted to do in the first half, but I felt the group was really a different team in the second half. We defended well, were much better connecting passes and scored, what I felt, were three pretty great goals. We never take hardware for granted. This is the achievement of a lot of people that have been putting in time and effort for a while. We're certainly excited. We'll enjoy it briefly and rest up for next week's conference tournament. As always, a huge thank you to those who traveled. No one supports like Knight Nation!"
MIAA TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY COLLEGIATE CREDIT UNION INFORMATION
Tournament Seeding
- Calvin University – 19 points (6-0-1)
- Albion College – 15 points (4-0-3)
- Hope College – 14 points (4-1-2)
- Kalamazoo College – 12 points (4-3)
- Adrian College – 8 points (2-3-2)
- Alma College – 7 points (2-4-1)
Tickets
Tickets are available online at
miaa.org/tickets. Students may pick up their complimentary tickets at the gates on game days.
Additional Information
- Collegiate Credit Union is the official sponsor of this year's MIAA Championships. A public address (PA) announcement will be provided along with the standard materials distributed to host communications staff.
- The MIAA Men's Soccer Tournament Central is available HERE.
