-- Story provided by Calvin University Athletics --
GAMBIER, Oh. – The Calvin men's soccer team opened its 2022 NCAA III Tournament trail with an empathic 5-0 victory over Carnegie Mellon Friday afternoon in a first-round match on the campus of Kenyon College.
The Knights (17-2-2) advance to the second round to face host Kenyon (17-1-1) in a regional final Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. (EST).
Carnegie Mellon (11-5-1) pressed the attack early but Calvin struck gold first as the Knights countered and scored just 5:11 into the match as senior Colin Iverson (Naperville, Il./Naperville North HS) was able to tap in a shot inside the six-yard box after a crossing pass from junior Oliver Akintade (Lake Forest, Il./Lake Forest HS) that was played over to Iverson via a dummy pass from senior Mason Smith (Flint, Mich./Powers Catholic HS). Akintade and Smith both drew assists on the initial Calvin goal.
Smith then picked up a goal of his own in the 13th minute, tucking a shot just under the bar off assists from Iverson and senior Aguma Muhumuza (Baton Rouge, La./The Dunham School).
Midway through the first half, Calvin senior Daniel Wunder (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) came up with a clutch save on a Carnegie Mellon shot from the six-yard box to keep the Tartans off the scoreboard.
With just over five minutes left in the first half, Calvin extended its lead to 3-0 as Smith sent a back-pass to Schau near the top of the 18-yard box with Schau cranking a blast inside the top left corner.
Freshman Jacob Ryu (Naperville, Il./Naperville North HS) cemented the win with a pair of goals in the second half. His first came in the 71st minute as he headed in a chip into the box by junior Zach Flowerday (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS). Ryu then broke free through the right side in the 81st minute off a lead pass from freshman TJ McVey (Aurora, Il./Benet Academy) and slotted home a shot inside the far post to complete the scoring.
Carnegie Mellon outshot Calvin 15-14 but Wunder was superb, making eight saves to post his seventh shutout of the season.
COACHES COMMENT: "Such a great result from our guys today," said Calvin head men's soccer coach Ryan Souders. "NCAA wins are incredibly difficult to come by and Carnegie Mellon is a really talented program out of one of the best Division III leagues in America. To be able to get a goal early was huge. Additionally, how great was our back line along with Daniel (Wunder) in goal today? They defended so well, Daniel made a couple of key saves to keep them at bay. Now we have to rest up and prepare for a talented Kenyon team tomorrow."
NEXT UP: Calvin will face Kenyon Saturday at 1 p.m. (EST) in Gambier, Ohio.
