BOX SCORE

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A late second-period goal by junior Josiah Lambers lifted Calvin into a 2-1 lead and ultimately provided the boost the Knights needed to skate away from Purdue University by a 5-1 score Wednesday night in a pool play opening game at the ACHA Division III National Tournament.

For nearly 40 minutes, Purdue frustrated the Knights in a tight-checking affair while keeping the game on even terms at 1-1.

Calvin (20-3-1) took a 1-0 lead on a goal by senior Drew Klomparens 6:43 into the contest with senior Brock Hearth and sophomore Owen Hodel drawing assists on the play.

Calvin appeared poised to build on its lead early in the second period as the Knights were awarded a power-play opportunity with a Purdue player sent to the penalty box for two minutes The Boilermakers stunned the Knights with a short-handed goal by Damian Chan just 20 seconds into the power play to tie the game 1-1.

Purdue continued to frustrate the Knights until the closing minutes of the period when a Calvin shot in close was saved off the line on a spectacular blocker save by Purdue goalie Benjamin Norris. Calvin kept the heat on and found gold when junior Joel Dieleman slid a pass to the far post that met Lambers perfectly on the rush. Lambers made no mistake, slamming home a shot for a Calvin goal with just 15.4 seconds left in the period.

The Lambers goal not only gave the Knights the lead but also a burst of momentum.

The momentum flow continued into the opening stages of the third period as senior Myles Radersma slid a shot past Norris just 1:19 into the third period. Senior Ethan Best was credited with an assist on the play.

Freshman Bennett Eisma than fought through a Purdue double-team effort to fire home a shot nearly two minutes later for a 4-1 Calvin advantage. Calvin won the ensuing faceoff with senior Gabriel Sova rushing the puck through the right side. Sova slipped a pass through the center with junior Tomas Postal taking the feed and slamming home a shot a stunning eight seconds after the Eisma tally.

The 5-1 Calvin lead was too much for Purdue to overcome as the Knights opened pool play with a win and a four-goal cushion.

Calvin finished with a 23-15 shots on goal advantage. Senior Ryan Worosz had 14 saves in nets to gain the win for the Knights.

COACHES COMMENT: "Really happy with how we played the first and third (periods) tonight," said Calvin head coach Austin Huizenga. "Purdue is a good team and they work hard. They controlled the second period and had us on our heels. Fortunately, we were able to score in the final seconds and get momentum back and carried it into the third. Nowe we look forward to a game tomorrow against a really good UNO team tomorrow coming off a big win today,"

NEXT UP: Seeded No. 1 in the tournament, Calvin will face Nebraska-Omaha (UNO) on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. (CT) and then sister institution Dordt University on Friday at 8:15 p.m. (CT). Nebraka-Omaha defeated Dordt 6-4 earlier on Wednesday. The winner of each four-team pool will advance to the national semifinals on Saturday.