Calvin opened up MIAA play Thursday afternoon against the Thunder of Trine. Despite a rather slow first half, the Knights jumped all over the Thunder in the second half, scoring four goals and closing out a 5-0 victory.
The Knight’s first goal of the match was also the first of the season for senior Liz Cancel. Freshman Paige Capel made a strong run down the right sideline and into the box where she found Cancel on a quick pass for a one-touch goal. Calvin continued to pressure the Thunder throughout the first half, putting a number of shots on net, all of which were turned aside by the Trine keeper.
With time winding down in the opening half, Trine had its best opportunity of the game when a Thunder forward ran past the Calvin defense and onto a breakaway. Junior goalie Ashton Hearn came charging out, but the Trine shot slipped past her and was heading for the net before freshman Jaime Verbal kicked it off the goal line as time ran out.
In the second half, the Knights began to pick it up as they scored a few quick goals. In the 57th minute, junior Heidi Scholten tapped in a bouncing ball in the box for her first goal of the year to put Calvin up 2-0.
A minute later, junior Kelly Koets added to the Knights’ lead as she tapped in a cross from sophomore Elle Burman.
In the 72nd minute, Cancel scored her second goal of the match, this off a Koets assist. Cancel’s shot deflected off a defender in the middle of the box and slipped past the keeper.
Calvin’s final goal of the game was by junior Danielle Carter. Carter received a cross from Scholten in the middle of the field and headed it home to finish the Knights scoring and finalize the 5-0 victory.
Trine keeper Sloan Davis was forced into five saves and allowed five goals on 27 shots for the Knights. Calvin keeper Ashton Hearn made just one save in 75 minutes of play before freshman keeper Leesha Gunnink came in and played the final 15 minutes.
“I thought we started out slowly, we were not as efficient as we had been,” said head coach Mark Recker. “I thought [we] started to find a better rhythm in the second half, [we] started to move the ball better in the second half, and we were a bit more effective and productive as a result.”
Calvin now looks forward to Wednesday, Sept. 19, when it travels to Alma to face the Scots. The Knights are now 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the MIAA while dropping Trine to 1-3-1 and 0-1 in conference.
