For the third time in recent history, the Calvin men’s soccer team lost in the finals of the national championship in an excruciatingly close, 1-0 double-overtime match on the afternoon of Dec. 3 at Roanoke College.

The match was fast-paced, with close plays made everywhere. The goalkeepers of both sides, Nate Van Ryn for Calvin and Scott Greenwood for Tufts, played excellently, each making five saves.

“I thought it was a great game,” said Coach Ryan Souders. “We are obviously gutted, maybe even devastated to be on the underside of it but that’s the way you want a national championship game to look like.

The Knights had several opportunities throughout the game but were unable translate these into goals. In the 58th minute senior Stephen Hooker crossed the ball to junior Mitch Stark who shot at the goal, but it was just shy of the post.

In the 72nd minute, sophomore Jacob Witte created an opportunity for the Knights by kicking the corner kick into the other side of the box. Senior Jacob Lyon was able to head it, but the ball hit the crossbar and simply bounced back. Sophomore Trent Vegter and junior Matt Hinds followed up with headers of their own, but they were unable to put the ball into the net.

Tufts similarly had trouble scoring against the tough line of Calvin defense. This led to a goal-less overtime, after which a second overtime was called into play. With less than seven minutes to spare, Tyler Kulcsar of Tufts was able to a connect a corner kick to a goal, ending the match.

“[Tuft] is a great team. There’s a reason they are champions two of the last three years. I thought our guys created chances. I felt like we did enough to win the game but they got a break, got a set piece, found a really small hole in our defense over the course of 104 minutes and finished the chance,” said Souders. “Congrats to Tufts. Well-earned. It leaves us wanting obviously but I’m really proud of our guys. They gave a great 104 minutes of effort and I’m really proud of them.”