A focused Hope College men's soccer team took care of the task at hand on Wednesday.

The 16th-ranked Flying Dutchmen recorded the seventh shutout of the season and received goals from four different sources during a 5-0 victory at Alma College.

Hope (12-1-2 overall) clinched an MIAA Tournament berth and remained in contention for a regular-season league championship. 

With a 4-0-1 league record, the Flying Dutchmen trail first-place Trine University by two points with two games remaining.

Head coach David Blahnik was pleased with his team's performance at Alma (8-7-1, 0-5 MIAA).

"The guys played a complete game on both sides of the ball," Blahnik said. "It was a well-deserved shutout led by [seniors] Cole Pauly and Dan Hesselbein. We are excited to get back to work in practice and prepare for a tough homecoming match vs. an extremely talented Adrian team."

On Saturday, the Flying Dutchmen host Adrian College for a 5 p.m. One Big Weekend and Senior Day match at Van Andel Soccer Stadium. Adrian suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday at Trine, 3-2. The Bulldogs are 2-1-2 in league play.

On Tuesday, Oct. 29, Hope travels to Trine for a 7 p.m. match in the regular-season finale.

Cole Pauly (Mundelein, Illinois / Mundelein HS) and Daniel Hesselbein (Barrington, Illinois / Barrington Community) limited Alma to three shots for the entire match.

The Flying Dutch racked up 26 shots for the match. Four of the 13 first-half shots went in for a 4-0 halftime lead.

In the 13th, minute, junior Seth Walters (St. Joseph, Michigan / St. Joseph) opened the scoring by finishing a bouncing ball inside the six-yard box.

In the 29th minute, Walters struck again by heading home a cross from the right flank from junior Grant Hassenrik (Ada, Michigan / Grand Rapids Christian).

Walters leads Hope with a career-high 11 goals. It was his second multi-goal game of the season.

Walters joins 29 other Flying Dutchmen who have scored 11 or more goals in a single season.

Four minutes later, freshman Ryker Corstange (Richland, Michigan / Gull Lake) blistered a through ball from sophomore Josh Weigel (Naperville, Illinois / Naperville Central) into the top left corner for a 3-0 lead. It was Corstange's third goal of the season.

In the 40th minute, sophomore Micah Wieland (Bristol, Indiana / Northridge) ripped a 20-yard direct free kick into the top right corner. It was Wieland's second goal of the season.

Hope closed the scoring in the 51st minute. Freshman Jackson Mindling (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Grand Rapids Christian) buried a one-touch finish into the bottom left corner that came from an Alma clearing attempt. It was Mindling's 10th goal of the season.