By Greg Chandler

The Hope College men's lacrosse team saw its most successful varsity season in school history end in heartbreaking fashion Thursday at Van Andel Soccer Stadium, as a man-up goal in the final seconds lifted Alma College to an 11-10 win in the semifinals of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament.

Jake Ellens' goal with 11.3 seconds remaining, his fourth of the match, proved to be the winner for the No. 3-seeded Scots (12-5), who will face MIAA champion and top seed Albion in the tournament championship match on Saturday.

Ellens' goal came 12 seconds after Hope was called for a one-minute slashing penalty that put the Dutchmen a man down.

Hope ended its season with a 10-6 record, the most wins for the Flying Dutchmen since men's lacrosse was established as a varsity sport in 2013. Their second place-tie in the MIAA standings was the best in school history.

The No. 2-seeded Flying Dutchmen started strong, spotting Alma an early 1-0 lead before ripping off five unanswered goals to take a 5-1 lead nearly six minutes into the second quarter. Senior attacker Gunnar Elder of East Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids HS) had two unassisted goals during the run.

Sophomore attacker Matthew Harkema of St. Louis Park, Minnesota (St. Louis Park HS) added another goal and assisted on a tally by sophomore Gino Battaglia of Lebanon, Ohio (Lebanon HS). Freshman Rocco Mularoni of Hartland, Michigan (Detroit Catholic Central HS) also scored the first of his three goals on the night.

Alma's defense tightened up, and the Scots made a run of their own. They scored twice to cut the Hope lead to 5-3 at halftime. Alma then struck for three straight goals, two by Ellens, to grab a 6-5 lead midway through the third quarter.

Mularoni tied it for Hope with his second goal, but Alma responded with two more tallies for an 8-6 lead late in the third quarter. Hope pulled even in the final minute of the quarter, as Mularoni and Elder scored their third goals 32 seconds apart to tie the match at 8-8 heading into the final 15 minutes.

Alma scored first in the fourth quarter, but Hope got goals from junior Mike Odea of Naples, Florida (Barron Collier HS) and sophomore Micah Bieri of Holland, Michigan (Holland Christian HS) to take a 10-9 lead with 8:51 remaining. However, that would be the last of the scoring for the Flying Dutchmen.

Johnathon Durga tied the match for Alma with an unassisted goal with 5:49 remaining, setting the stage for Ellens' game-winning tally.

Hope fired 39 shots for the game, compared to 43 for Alma. Hope dominated the faceoffs, winning 20 of 24 draws, but committed 24 turnovers to Alma's 14.

Freshman goalkeeper Nick Schanhals of North Muskegon, Michigan (North Muskegon) made 14 saves in net for Hope, including several at point-blank range.

Freshman Kyle Gaines of South Lyon, Michigan (Detroit Catholic Central) won 11 of 13 faceoffs and scooped up six ground balls, while fellow freshman Marshall VanBelkum of Rockford, Michigan (Rockford HS) won nine of 10 faceoffs and led Hope with seven ground balls.

The loss marked the final Hope game for Elder and fellow senior Zach Weber of Ann Arbor, Michigan (Pioneer HS).

Elder, a three-time All-MIAA first team selection, ended his career as Hope's all-time career leader in goals (183), assists (105) and points (288). He finished his final season with a team-high 69 points on 34 goals and 35 assists, the latter tying the single-season record he set last year.

Weber finished his career with 72 goals and 95 points, including 15 goals this season.

Weber's 72 goals trail only Elder among Hope's varsity players.