The Saint Mary's soccer team finished in a 4-4 double overtime tie to crush Calvin College's hopes for a playoff birth.
"We were hoping to spoil Calvin's season," Belles captain Jen Concannon said.
Calvin was tied with Hope College in the MIAA standings and could not afford a tie or loss against Saint Mary's last Saturday afternoon if they expected to see life in the playoffs.
Saint Mary's began the rivalry with an impressive 3-0 lead in the first half.
Freshman Colleen Courtney contributed the first two goals, followed by a goal from classmate Ashley Hinton.
"By starting with a 3-0 lead against the top team in the conference, we should have been one of the top teams," Belles sophomore Katie Noble said.
"We usually come out strong, but it is always the last 10 minutes of the half or the game that we slow down."
Unfortunately for Saint Mary's, Calvin was able to capitalize and tie the score 3-3 to end the half.
In the second half, both teams could only respond with a goal to make the final score in regulation 4-4 and send the game into overtime.
Saint Mary's was unable to score in overtime and had to settle for the 4-4 tie against the first place team.
Despite the tie, the Belles felt it was a hard fought game and were glad to end the season on a better note than they had planned. Although the defense has been the major highlight for the Belles all season, the offense heavily contributed to last Saturday's tie.
"The forwards are what helped the team," Concannon said.
Already looking to next season, the team has high expectations as 10 of the 11 starters will return.From the 10 returning starters, four are freshman and now have a year of experience.
"They stepped up and they had a lot to do with our success this year," Noble said.
"Next year we are going to be as strong."
