Tied early in the third quarter again, but this time against a nationally-ranked opponent in the NCAA Division III Championships, the undefeated Hope College men's lacrosse team still did not flinch.
The Flying Dutchmen launched a decisive five-goal run that grounded the nationally-ranked Ithaca College Bombers and resulted in a 14-11 second-round victory on Friday in Lewiston, Maine.
Hope, the nation's lone remaining unbeaten team at 19-0, marched into the third round of the national tournament for the first time. The Flying Dutchmen will play nationally-ranked host Bates College on Saturday, May 9, at 7 p.m. for a Sweet Sixteen berth. Bates (12-5) defeated SUNY Cortland, 17-9, in Friday's opener.
Head coach Michael Schanhals credited his team for its response to an Ithaca goal that evened the score just 1 minute, 14 seconds into the second half. The Orange and Blue pulled ahead 13-8 over a span of 15 minutes.
The commanding effort mirrored the performance that propelled Hope past Calvin University in the Flying Dutchmen's last game on May 1 in the MIAA Tournament championship game.
"I'm really proud of these guys. Not only have they worked hard tonight, but all the way back since the fall," Schanhals said after Hope's second NCAA Championships victory and the first since 2021. "They rose to every challenge that was presented to them by me, the coaching staff, the seniors, and captains. I couldn't be prouder."
Junior attack Gibson Heethuis of Hudsonville, Michigan (Hudsonville), gave Hope the lead for good, scoring the third of his four goals one minute after Ithaca's Tim Rogers made it 8-8. Gibson Heethuis was set up by his younger brother, freshman Elliott Heethuis of Hudsonville, Michigan (Hudsonville).
At the 11:06 mark, sophomore attack Jack Zuiderveen of Hudsonville, Michigan (Hudsonville) doubled Hope's lead with his 31st goal of the season. Sophomore attack Preston Hoexum of Ada, Michigan (Forest Hills Eastern) drew the assist.
Hoexum followed nine minutes apart with the final two of his game-high five goals for a 13-9 lead. Freshman midfielder Jackson Vasquez of Lake Orion, Michigan (Lake Orion), and sophomore long-stick midfielder Tyler Berens of West Olive, Michigan (West Ottawa), respectively, assisted on Hoexum's 59th and 60th goals of the season.
Gibson Heethuis capped the five-goal eruption, netting his 60th goal of the season 1:10 into the fourth quarter.
"They had a really great goalie, so we were really focusing on getting some good shots, some quality shots that we might be able to beat him with," Heethuis said. "When we practiced, we focused on getting our, what we call, gold-medal shots, and we were able to get those today."
The Flying Dutchmen have an outstanding goalie, too. Senior Jack Balmforth of Livonia, Michigan (Detroit Catholic Central) stopped 15 Ithaca shots. Hope helped Balmforth by recording an 11-2 edge in turnovers against the Liberty League champions.
"My defense is awesome," Balmforth said. "I've got three seniors out there in front of me and a bunch of LSMs and a bunch of d-middies that are just absolute dogs. We knew their offense was pretty pattern-based. We just had to stay disciplined in our approach and they gave me shots that I could save. We were able to hold them."
