GROVE CITY, PA. – A late-minute goal by junior
Pol Sabe (Barcelona, Spain Col-legi Montserrat) allowed Calvin to gain a 2-2 draw at Grove City College Saturday evening.
Saturday's contest featured the third meeting between the two sides in the last year. The teams met in Grand Rapids last September but had a game halted by weather midway through the second half. Calvin then edged the Wolverines 1-0 in sudden-death overtime in a first round NCAA III Tournament contest in November.
Sabe's equalizer came in the 88
th minute of the match and culminated a late surge by Calvin to find a way back into the match.
Calvin (1-1-1) struck for the opening goal just two minutes into the match as the Wolverines were whistled for a foul in the box, giving the Knights a penalty kick.
Senior
Matt Torrell (Rochester, N.Y./The Charles Finney School) stepped up and delivered a well-placed strike to the corner to convert the spot kick for a 1-0 Calvin lead.
Grove City (1-0-2) began to carry the run of play and found the back of the Calvin net in the 27
th minute of play as Noah Gray tucked a curling shot just inside the far post for a 1-1 game.
Grove City carried the play in the early minutes of the second and found a go-ahead goal off the head of Ryan Merrick who redirected a corner kick into the upper right corner of the Calvin goal.
Calvin regrouped in the final 15 minutes and began to push into the attacking third. Calvin finally found gold on a pinball pass from junior
Jake Ziolo (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Jerome) that found Sabe on the doorstep for the equalizer.
Grove City finished with a 12-10 shots at goal advantage. Calvin held an 8-7 edge in corner kicks.
Junior goalkeeper
John Hargett (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy) had one save in goal for Calvin. Keller Krieger had three saves in goal for Grove City.
Saturday's game completed a weekend swing through Western Pennsylvania for the Calvin men's soccer team as it had fallen at Geneva University 1-0 Friday night.
COACHES COMMENT: "Proud of the group's ability to eke out a point late," said Calvin head men's soccer coach
Ryan Souders. "As we know from recent history, Grove City is a very talented and exceptionally well-coached group. The weekend was a big ask of our guys, and after a disappointing Friday, tonight's effort was significantly improved. The challenge now is to grow from this and progress forward in the year. As always, can not say enough about our fans. An incredible collection of Knight supporters came out this weekend from all over. Thank you so much for your support!"
NEXT UP: Calvin will travel to DePauw University next Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest.
