GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin University men's lacrosse team earned the program's first ever MIAA Tournament semifinal win over Albion College by a 17-10 final on Tuesday on Zuidema Field.
The win advanced the Knights to the program's first-ever trip to the MIAA Tournament championship game, which will be played at Hope College on Friday, May 1, at 7:00 PM.
The MIAA Tournament is presented by Collegiate Credit Union.
The game was physical early, with bodies flying around as the two teams traded goals back and forth in a high-scoring first quarter.
David Blackmon (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) led the offensive charge early for Calvin (13-3) with the Knights' first three goals to take a 3-1 lead after seven minutes, but Albion (12-7) answered with a pair of goals to tie the game at 3-3.
Braylon Moore (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) and
Jordan Warners (Orange, Calif./Crean Lutheran) added first-quarter goals for the Knights late in the period to help Calvin to a 5-4 lead after the opening 15 minutes.
The Britons started the second quarter with three goals in the first six minutes to take a 7-6 lead, but
Braden Carpenter (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) tied the game at 7-7 with 9:16 to play.
The game changed following the Carpenter goal, as the Britons committed a two-minute un-releasable penalty that led to man-up goals by Moore and
Teddy Hollebeek (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian). The Knights' momentum continued the rest of the quarter, with four more unanswered goals from Moore, Blackmon (two) and Warners to take a 13-7 lead into halftime.
Nate Hanson (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) helped the Knights keep the momentum throughout the second period, winning 11 of 12 faceoffs (including 10 in a row to end the quarter). Calvin also made the Britons pay for mistakes with five man-up goals in the first half, including four in the second quarter.
The Britons started the third quarter with a pair of goals to cut the Calvin lead to 13-9, but
Riley DeSarbo (Monroe, Mich./St. Mary's Catholic Central) scored with 2:25 left in the quarter to push the Calvin lead back to 14-9 heading into the final period.
Albion scored the first goal of the fourth quarter but Carpenter answered 32 seconds later with a goal off a
Drew Garrison (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) assist to push the lead back to five. Warners added another goal with 7:17 remaining, and
Anson Gorski (Livonia, Mich./Orchard Lake St. Mary's) capped the scoring with 3:47 remaining off a Warners assist to seal the seven-goal win.
Blackmon led the offense with five goals on the day, while Warners added four goals and four assists. Moore had a hat trick with three goals and Carpenter finished with two tallies and one assist. Gorski and
Hudson Thiemann (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) each had two assists on the night.
Hanson finished the day 23-30 in the faceoff X and scooped up 17 ground balls. Garrison caused five turnovers and added saix ground balls.
Ben Dilly (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) caused three turnovers. Jackson Engbergs (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) and DeSarbo finished with six and five ground balls, respectively.
Soren Thiemann (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) recorded 11 saves in goal for the Knights.
COACH'S COMMENT: "I'm ecstatic for our guys and the program," Calvin head coach
Dave Hoger said. "We talked late last week about earning more time together. That's what it's all about this time of year. We checked off a lot of goals that we've been working for this whole year tonight. This group is special and they have committed to doing this together. I can't wait to get back to work tomorrow to prepare for our first conference championship game appearance."
NEXT UP: Calvin men's lacrosse will return to action on Friday, May 1, when it plays in the MIAA Tournament Final against Hope College. The game will be played at Hope and is scheduled to start at 7:00 PM.
