HOLLAND, Mich. – The Calvin University men's lacrosse team saw its season come to an end in a 15-9 defeat at Hope College in the MIAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament final presented by Collegiate Credit Union Friday night.
Calvin (13-4) battled unbeaten Hope (18-0) to a 6-5 halftime deficit, but a run of seven unanswered goals by the Flying Dutchmen in the second half proved too much to overcome.
The Knights got off to an explosive start as
Nate Hanson (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) took the opening faceoff and scored 15 seconds into the game to take a 1-0 lead, but the Flying Dutchmen answered with three unanswered goals.
Calvin fought right back, as
Jordan Warners (Orange, Calif./Crean Lutheran) and
Braylon Moore (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) scored in the final six minutes of the first quarter to tie the game 3-3, and the Knights opened the second quarter with another goal by
Riley DeSarbo (Monroe, Mich./St. Mary's Catholic Central) to take a 4-3 lead.
Hope wrestled the lead away with a pair of goals, but
Brighton Kojetin (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) tied the game back up with 7:29 to play in the half. The Flying Dutchmen took a 6-5 lead with 3:46 to play in the half and had chances late in the second quarter to extend the advantage, but
Soren Thiemann (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) made several big stops in goal to keep the Calvin deficit 6-5 at the break.
Turnovers were the story for both teams early, as Calvin committed 24 and Hope committed 17. Thiemann was big in goal throughout the half with seven saves on 13 Hope shots on goal.
For the third time in the game, the Knights scored the first goal of the quarter out of the half as Warners took a pass from
Hudson Thiemann (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) to tie the game. The teams traded goals to make the game 7-7 with 11:46 to play, but Hope started to pull away with six unanswered goals to close the quarter and take a 13-7 lead into the final quarter.
Warners scored for the Knights with 9:20 remaining in the game to stop the Hope run at 7-0, but the Flying Dutchmen scored twice in the fourth quarter before
Sam Poupard (Midland, Mich./Dow) scored for the Knights in the final minute to reach the final 15-9 score. The goal was Poupard's first collegiate goal.
Calvin finished the game with 37 turnovers compared to 22 for Hope. The Flying Dutchmen also finished with a 46-26 advantage in total shots, including a 33-14 lead in shots on goal.
Soren Thiemann recorded 18 saves in the game for Calvin, while Hanson went 15-25 in the faceoff X with 10 ground balls.
Warners led Calvin with three goals and four total points. Kotejin scored twice for Calvin.
Drew Garrison (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) recorded three caused turnovers.
The Knights finished the season with a school-record 13 wins and earned the program's first ever trip to the MIAA Tournament final.
COACH'S COMMENT: "I was really proud of our effort tonight," Calvin head coach
Dave Hoger said. "We played free and with a lot of heart. It's been a great season and I'm so proud of the guys and their commitment to our team this year. We are going to learn from tonight and continue to build on this season. Thank you to our seniors for all they've given us and for helping lead us to the best season in program history."
