When Hope College senior midfielder Ethan Jansen was tripped up just inside the penalty box in the 88th minute against Calvin University, it appeared as if the Flying Dutchmen were about to salvage a hard-earned draw against the No. 17-ranked Knights. 

However, Jansen's subsequent penalty kick with just 2:32 remaining in the game was miraculously stopped by the leg of Calvin goalkeeper Daniel Wunder even though he dove well past the ball. The Knights added a PK goal with four seconds remaining to earn a 3-1 victory before a chilly crowd of 1,199 on Saturday night at Calvin's Zuidema Field.

"It's a tough result," head coach David Blahnik said. "Obviously, it's a serious rivalry and we want to beat them really, really badly. But they also wanna beat us really badly. 

"We created a lot of opportunities and we outshot them again, but we're not executing as well as we can on the final ball. When you give Calvin a chance to score, they're gonna score. I mean that with all the respect to them, but also all the belief in our guys that we're going to get there when it matters."

Calvin (9-2-1, 2-0-0 MIAA) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when midfielder Jacob Ryu cleaned up teammate Alex White's shot that was blocked by a sliding Hope defender, depositing a blast into the upper-left corner of the net in the 28th minute.

Hope (7-2-3, 1-1-0) answered back just before halftime. Junior midfielder Mario Hrvojevic (Lincolnwood, Illinois / Loyola Academy) knotted the score at 1-1 by sailing a ball just above a wall of multiple Calvin defenders and past Wunder with his left foot from about 25 yards out on a free kick for his fourth goal of the season.

The Knights wasted little time regaining the lead, though. Oliver Akintade deftly set up teammate Chris Schau's goal with a perfect pass into the box through Hope's defense to make it 2-1 Calvin less than four minutes into the second half.

Hope junior goalkeeper Daniel Hesselbein (Barrington, Illinois / Barrington Community) made a couple of nice diving saves on headers off of Calvin corner kicks to help the Flying Dutchmen stay within shouting distance. 

Freshman midfielder AJ Boucher (Delton, Michigan / Gull Lake) nearly leveled the game in the 72nd minute. He launched a left-to-right rocket from about 15 yards out that a diving Wunder just got his fingertips on to keep out of the net. 

Boucher then used his speed just a few minutes later to get around the corner for a deflected shot that a Calvin defender was forced to head off the goal line.

Akintade provided the last goal of the night from the penalty spot with just 3.1 seconds to go in the game after being taken down in the box just before the final horn.

Despite the setback, Blahnik was complimentary of the effort put forth by his team.

"A lot of these games come down to (Calvin) having some fourth- and fifth-year All-American guys that bury their chances," Blahnik said. "I believe our guys are capable of that and we're going to get there.

"It's what a fierce rivalry should be in the sense of big-time players making big-time plays. Unfortunately, we've been on the losing end of it lately. But we are going to keep working and do everything we can to not just beat Calvin, but to win the next game and keep striving to win the league championship. I believe in our guys and I want to win or lose with this group of guys."

Hope outshot Calvin 17-11 in the game. The Flying Dutchmen also had eight corner kicks compared to Calvin's five.

Hesselbein had four saves for the Flying Dutch, while Wunder recorded five for the Knights. 

Hope, which is tied for third place in the MIAA with Alma College, returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. when the Flying Dutchmen host Kalamazoo College at Van Andel Soccer Stadium.