Great League Start

My apologies for not updating the blog sooner. Two weeks into MIAA play, Hope stands at the top of the league with a sterling 4-0 record. In the league opener, Hope traveled to Albion to take on the nationally ranked Britons. Hope prevailed 2-0 in a hard-fought victory.

In its next match, the Dutchmen threaded Adrian College at home by a 6-0 margin. It was a decisive victory as evidenced by the 5-0 lead at halftime. In the following match, Hope defeated Tri-state by a count of 5-0.

In its most recent match, Hope traveled to Olivet to face a much improved Comet team. After leading 1-0 at halftime, Hope took a 2-0 lead shortly into the second half and appeared to be cruising to the lead. Midway through the half, a decided momentum shift happened in the game, and when Hope's goalkeeper was taken out by his own player, the margin was cut in half. Shortly thereafter, Olivet had a deep throw-in and capitalized to equal the score. Mike Amerman came up with a huge save to force the overtime. In overtime, Hope had chances to ice the game. The game winner occured just 44 seconds into the second overtime.

For some highlights, Geoff Meyer and Karter Klingenberg are near the league leaders in scoring, Dan Tresslar is near the league leaders in assists, and Kevin Butterfield has yet to allow a goal in league play, and only given up one goal in the past seven matches.

Hope, ranked #24 in the nation this week, returns to action later today against Kalamazoo College (also 4-0 in the league). Hope will travel to rival Calvin on Saturday for a 2:00 pm showdown.