WHEATON, Ill. - Today the Calvin women's soccer team kicked off its 2026 season in style with a 2-1 victory over the Thunder of Wheaton College.
The Knights wasted no time getting on the board when a foul by a Thunder defender in the box led to a penalty kick opportunity for Calvin. Senior midfielder
Mikaela Waroway (Ann Arbor, Mich./Father Gabriel Richard) stepped up to the spot and calmly sent the ball past the keeper for the Knights first goal of the season.
The rest of the first half was quiet for both teams as they headed into halftime with Calvin leading 1-0. The Knights generated plenty of opportunities within the first forty-five minutes as they outshot Wheaton 12-2 with four of those shots being on goal.
Fifteen minutes into the second half Calvin found itself on the attack once again and earned a corner kick for their efforts. Senior defender
Katherine Bergman (Farmington Hills, Mich./Farmington) took charge and delivered an arcing ball into the penalty box where a sea of bodies awaited. At the last second graduate student
Lucy Iverson (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) emerged from the masses and sent a shot into the upper right side of the net to increase the Calvin lead to 2-0. It also marked Iverson's first goal for the Knights since the 2024 season after missing last season due to injury.
Wheaton looked to fight back and score a goal of its own in the 78th minute to cut the Calvin lead down to one. However, with ten minutes left to play, the Knights tightened their armor and fended off all Thunder attacks in the final ten minutes to pick up the 2-1 victory.
Calvin finished the game with a whopping twenty-one shots compared to Wheaton's five. The Knights finished the game with nine shots on goal and ten corner kicks. Junior goalkeeper
Aubree Lee (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) got the first start of her Calvin career where she recorded one save.
COACHES COMMENTS: "We are happy to get a result to start the season!" said head coach
Emily Ottenhoff. "I thought we created a number of solid chances but weren't clinical enough. Credit to Wheaton for taking away a lot of space and making it difficult to break them down. We look forward to getting back to work tomorrow!"
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Saturday, September 5th when they travel to take on Oberlin College at 12 PM.
