Story by Alan Babbitt and photo by Steve Herppich

It was so close to a thrilling comeback for the Hope College men's lacrosse team.

After trailing by as many as six goals, the Flying Dutchmen nearly sent the showdown against visiting Albion College to overtime, but their final shot whizzed right of the Britons goal in the closing seconds of a 15-14 loss on Saturday. 

Hope suffered its first loss in eight games this season. The Flying Dutchmen are now 2-1 in MIAA play.

Junior Brian Bera (Rockford, Michigan/Rockford HS) pulled Hope within a goal by scoring with 14 seconds remaining in regulation.

After winning the faceoff, the Flying Dutchmen raced to get off another shot before time expired. A rip on an angle from about 25 yards out went wide.

Albion (10-1 overall, 4-0 MIAA) remained tied with Calvin University atop the league standings.

The Britons took control during the second quarter as they charged to an 8-4 halftime lead. Albion snapped a 2-2 tie after the opening 10 minutes with six second-quarter goals.

In the third quarter, the Britons pushed their lead to 12-6 with 2:47 remaining before Hope, answered with goals from faceoff specialist Cole Scheffler (Rockford, Michigan/Rockford) and Jack Radzville (Howell, Michigan/Howell).

The Flying Dutchmen then scored the first three goals of the fourth quarter. Scheffler followed Radzville's goal with this second goal of the game and the season to cut Albion's lead to 12-11.

Hope narrowed Albion's lead to one goal again, at 14-13, on a goal from Zach Wiggins (Kalamazoo, Michigan/Mattawan) with 6:33 remaining. 

The Flying Dutchmen fired six shots wide and had one turned away before the final horn sounded.

Head coach Michael Schanhals was pleased with how his team settled in after a rough start that included 20 first-half turnovers. 

"We just needed some time to get it together. This is a really emotional game. There is a history between the two teams competing for the trophy," Schanhals said. "We settled into passing and catching in the second half. Credit to Albion for putting pressure on us and making us make some mistakes. We had our own mistakes, too.

"You've got to play in big games in order to know how to play in big games. A lot of our young kids got the wrong end of the loss. We'll definitely learn from it."

Hope's next game is Tuesday, April 20 at home against Kalamazoo College at 7:30 p.m. at Van Andel Soccer Stadium.