Calvin University

HOLLAND, Mich. - Today the Calvin women's lacrosse team traveled to Holland, Michigan to take on the Flying Dutch of Hope College in the MIAA Tournament Championship presented by Collegiate Credit Union. 
 
Today marked the first time since 2018 that the Knights had appeared in the championship game while the Dutch looked to compete for their fourth consecutive tournament championship. The two teams finished the season as co-MIAA regular seasons champions, Calvin's first title since 2021, with Hope winning the regular season matchup 17-15.
 
The Flying Dutch drew first blood in the highly touted rivalry matchup when they broke past the Calvin defense just two minutes into play. The Knights didn't wait long to respond when a foul by Hope gave Calvin a free position opportunity. Senior Audrey Booher (Fishers, Ind./Heritage Christian) lined up on the right side of the circle and sent a shot between the goal keeper's legs to even the score at 1-1. 
 
Hope punched back with a 4-0 scoring run before senior Morgan Bethard (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt) scored her first goal of the game off an assist from fellow senior Jacey Smith (Watertown, Wis./Watertown). Twenty seconds later, the Knights looked to build some momentum when Smith got in on the scoring action and cut the Flying Dutch lead down to just two. Hope notched one more goal in the first period to take the 6-3 lead after fifteen minutes of play.
 
The second period belonged solely to the Dutch as they outscored the Knights 5-0 and went into halftime leading 11-3. Looking to change their luck, the Knights opened the second half with a bang when junior Jessica Eenigenburg (Norton Shores, Mich./Western Michigan Christian) scored off a free position shot for Calvin's first goal since 2:05 in the first period. 
 
Looking to build on the newfound offensive spark, junior Megan Gibbs (Perrysburg, Oh./Perrysburg) weaved through several Dutch defenders before finding Smith who sent the ball into the back of the net to make the score 11-5. 
 
Hope opened the final quarter with their first goal of the half just a minute and a half into play. However, Bethard came up big for the Knights two minutes later when she notched her second goal of the game to cut the Dutch lead down to six. Hope answered with two goals of their own before sophomore Delaney Johnson (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) scored her first goal of the day off an assist from Smith. 
 
With five minutes left on the clock, Bethard completed her hat-trick when she found the back of the net for the third time today as the Knights continued to try and chip at the Dutch lead. However, that would be as close as Calvin would get as Hope tallied one more down the stretch and the Knights ultimately fell 16-8.
 
Calvin finished the game with thirty-one shots compared to Hope's thirty-three while also picking up nineteen ground balls while the Dutch had twenty-four. Sophomore Corinne Plumb (St. Louis, Mo./Westminster Christian Academy) had a team high four ground balls while senior defender Natalie Scott (Dyer, Ind./Illiana Christian) notched three caused turnovers. Gibbs chipped in three ground balls and three turnovers.
 
Junior Hannah Rizzo (Waterville, Ohio/Anthony Wayne) got the start in goal where she recorded nine saves and three ground balls. Freshman Katie Dixon (Fishers, Ind./Hudsonville) also saw some time in the net and notched three saves in her six minutes of play.