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Goalie Daniel Hesselbein holds a soccer ball with his right hand.
Junebug Photography
Pictured, Daniel Hesselbein
1
Hope HC (8-1-2, 0-0-1)
1
Calvin Calvin (7-4-1, 0-0-1)
Hope HC
(8-1-2, 0-0-1)
1
Final
1
Calvin Calvin
(7-4-1, 0-0-1)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Hope HC 1 0 1
Calvin Calvin 1 0 1

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | Greg Chandler

No. 7-Ranked Men's Soccer Kicks off MIAA Play with Draw at Calvin

The nationally-ranked Hope College men's soccer team opened MIAA play Wednesday night with the latest edition of The Rivalry with Calvin University on the Knights' new soccer field.

After giving up an early goal, the Flying Dutchmen delivered the equalizer midway through the first half, then came up with some key defensive plays in the second half to come away with a 1-1 tie with their archrival in front of 1,576 fans at Zuidema Field inside Calvin Soccer Stadium.

Ranked No. 7 in this week's United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III Top 25, Hope is now 8-1-2 on the season. The Knights are now 7-4-1.

The tie extended Calvin's unbeaten streak against Hope in The Rivalry to 19 games (15-0-4). The Flying Dutchmen last defeated the Knights on Oct. 15, 2013, 3-1, at Van Andel Soccer Stadium.

The Knights opened the scoring just under seven minutes into the game on a goal by freshman Xtreme Hauk. Hope responded in the 21st minute with a great individual effort by junior forward Seth Walters (St. Joseph, Michigan/St. Joseph HS).

Walters chased down a long through ball just outside and to the right of the penalty arc, turned to shake free from a Calvin defender, then blasted a shot into the upper right-hand corner of the net for his eighth goal of the season, tying the game at 1-1.

"That's what Seth Walters is for us," head coach David Blahnik said. "Seth was our leading goal scorer as a freshman two years ago [with eight goals]. He had a broken ankle last year so he didn't play, and we really missed him. A lot of the guys on this team can score, but Seth is that guy. Every good team needs a Seth, a guy who just finds a way if the ball is bouncing [around], and he'll just put a ball on goal. He's more than deserving of it. He's been working incredibly hard in training." 

Early in the second half, senior goalkeeper Daniel Hesselbein (Barrington, Illinois/Barrington Community) made the defensive play of the night to preserve the tie, going high in the air to tip away the point-blank shot by Calvin's Colin Nieuwenhuis over the goal.

Hesselbein had been injured in Hope's last game, on Sept. 28 against the University of Chicago, and hadn't practiced since the injury. When game time rolled around Wednesday, he was determined to play, Blahnik said.

"Dan's a fifth-year senior, he's been all-conference a few times. Unless the man can't walk, he was going to be in this game. We'd have to drag him off," Blahnik said. "Dan's been doing that for us all year. He has done a fantastic job out there. He has really stepped up his game this year."

Hesselbein made four saves in net for the Flying Dutchmen, who were outshot by Calvin 10-6 for the contest. The Knights had five corner kicks, to two for Hope.
 
"We're dealing with a lot of different injuries right now and guys missing," Blahnik said. "We've been doing a little bit of plug-and-play [with our lineup]. Some guys stepped up and tried to take advantage of that [in the game] and for other guys, this was a learning experience. Next time maybe they'll step up a little more."

Hope returns to action Saturday, Oct. 12, at 3 p.m. at Van Andel Soccer Stadium for an MIAA contest against The University of Olivet.
 
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