A strong season has resulted in the Kalamazoo College men's soccer team earning a top-two seed in the MIAA post-season tournament. As a result, the #2 seeded Hornets (10-3-3, 5-1-1 MIAA) received a first-round bye and will host #3 Hope College (11-3-3, 4-1-2 MIAA) in a semifinal matchup at MacKenzie Field Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Tournament Format
The tournament is a single-elimination format that is scheduled to be played October 30 through November 6. The top six seeds make the tournament and the top two seeds each earn a bye.
The tourney kicked off on Saturday, Oct. 30 with Hope defeating #6 Olivet, 3-0, and #4 Trine defeating #5 Albion, 4-0. In addition to the Kalamazoo/Hope matchup on Wednesday, the other semifinal will see #1 Calvin hosting Trine at 7 p.m. The two winners will face off in Saturday's championship match at the highest remaining seed's home field.
Tickets
Please visit the following website to purchase tickets as cash will not be accepted at the gate. https://www.miaa.org/landing/tickets
$7 - Adult General Admission
$5 - MIAA Faculty/Staff - General Admission
$5 - Non-MIAA Students - General Admission
Free - MIAA Students with student ID - General Admission
Free - Children under five - General Admission
Previous matchups
The Hornets and the Flying Dutchmen have already met twice this year. Kalamazoo claimed a 2-1 road victory on Sept. 25 in a non-conference matchup, and the two recorded a scoreless draw in the final game of the regular season at Kalamazoo on Oct. 27.
Scouting Hope
The Flying Dutchmen are the defending tournament champions and finished the regular season with an overall record of 11-3-3 and 4-1-2 in the MIAA. They had four members of their team receive All-MIAA honors (D Matt Wimmer, D Brandon Fles, M Ethan Jansen, and D Jackson Strable) and their leading scorer was M Nic Kubert, whose six goals and one assist (13 points) placed him ninth on the MIAA scoring charts. F Griffin Bruso was the other Hope player to record double figures in points, with four goals and two assists (10 points).
With three defenders on the All-MIAA team, it's easy to understand why Hope allowed just a 0.73 goals-against average. Freshman Daniel Hesselbein played a huge majority of the Dutchmen's minutes in goal and sports a record of 9-3-3 with five shutouts. The Hornets will have their work cut out for them to put a dent in a stout Hope defense.
Scouting the Hornets
Kalamazoo had seven players named to the All-MIAA squad in F Emilio Romo, M Alex Wallace, D Mikey Schwartz, F Aidan Gillig, M Shun Yonehara, D Colin Halloran and GK Gavin Houtkooper. Romo and Wallace will be focal points of the Hope defense when they possess the ball. Romo finished tied for third in the league in goals with 10 and fourth in points (20). Wallace scored five goals and notched an assist as well. His 11 points put him tenth in the league this season. Gillig (nine points) and Chad Ewing (seven points) are also dangerous threats that Hope will have to keep eyes on at all times.
Four-time All-MIAA selection Schwartz will be key for a K defense that can also do its share of shutting down opposing offenses. Their 0.71 goals-against average bested Hope's by 0.02 percentage points. Schwartz, Yonehara and Halloran will be among the key players who will charged with stymieing the Dutchmen's attack.
When Hope does manage to break through, they will find themselves facing either Houtkooper or senior Luke Kastran (.091 GAA, four shutouts). Houtkooper posted a sparkling 0.55 GAA and also claimed four shutouts on his way to being named second-team all-conference and the MIAA Newcomer of the Year.
The previous games between the two were tight, physical affairs. Expect more of the same Wednesday night.