Calvin Women's Soccer Defeats Hope 2-1 in Holland
By Mark DeHaan
HOLLAND, Mich. - The Calvin women's soccer team traveled to Holland on Saturday to face the Flying Dutch of Hope College. In the final game of the first half of the conference schedule, the Knights claimed a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Van Andel Stadium behind a pair of goals from sophomore Paige Capel.
Hope took the lead in the first half from freshman Sarah Fazio, who collected the ball in the box off of a rebound and put it into the back of the net.
In the 69th minute, Capel scored what turned out to be the game winner. Sophomore Sydney Kinney placed a corner into the center of the box which was flicked on by senior Heidi Scholten to the feet of Capel. Trapping the ball, Capel slotted the ball near-post to give Calvin a 2-1 lead.
Despite a lot of pressure from Hope, Calvin held on for the win, with senior Ashton Hearn making four saves to earn the win in net.
Both teams totaled eight shots in the second half, with Hope holding an end-game edge of 11-10 in shots. Calvin held an 8-5 advantage in corner kicks.
"My challenge to the upper class strikers (at halftime) was to go compete and decide how badly they wanted it," said head coach Mark Recker. "Kelly (Koets) came out big in the second half, breaking (the Hope defense) down. Paige (Capel) can do the left foot shot any time, she has that gift, and I just want her to do that more. I felt like we were good to go if we just pushed forward, got some energy and created opportunities – and that is what we did."
