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GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.—The 2018 season opener pitted the Carthage College women's soccer team at Calvin College for a non-conference bout. Friday's season opener featured a pair of teams who've never faced each other, as well as first-time head coaches in
Ian Wilson and Calvin's Emily Ottenhoff.
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Junior defender Emily Van Vliet, who registered just two goals all of last season, notched a hat trick for Calvin en route to a 4-1 victory over the Lady Reds.
Kelsey Dejno tallied Carthage's lone goal of the contest off
Jacey Kent's corner kick at the 61:52 mark, which cut Calvin's lead in half at 2-1.
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Five of Carthage's six shots in the contest came from non-starters. Dejno contributed three shots while freshmen
Malaika Bigirindavyi,
Katie Cochran and
Anna Butler each chipped in one. Freshman goalkeeper
Sara Lieffrig notched two saves in her collegiate debut while her counterpart Amy Kliewer stopped two shots for the Knights. Van Vliet's hat trick and Mackenna Nesky's goal made up Calvin's scoring in the outing.
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The Lady Reds begin the 2018 season 0-1, 0-0 CCIW while Calvin sets the tone with a 1-0, 0-0 MIAA mark.
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Calvin 4, Lady Reds 1
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The first two scoring chances of the contest belonged to the Lady Reds when Dejno's shot trickled off Calvin goalkeeper Kliewer and sailed out of play, which provoked a corner kick attempt from
Taylor Stenmark at the 23:52 mark. Bigirndavyi controlled Stenmark's corner kick from a scrum of players before she fired a shot that Kliewer stopped in the 24
th minute.
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Mackenna Nesky returned the favor with a goal off Kali Mouw's corner kick in the 34
th minute to give Calvin a 1-0 lead. Van Vliet's first goal of the game in the 38
th minute pushed Calvin's lead to 2-0, where things stayed at intermission.
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Dejno peppered two shots on goal in the second half, where one found the back of the net at the 61:52 mark to cut Calvin's lead in half at 2-1. Carthage mustered one more shot for the remainder of the game while Van Vliet put the finishing touches on her hat trick in the 71
st and 84
th minute to lock a 4-1 victory for Calvin.
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The Lady Reds will close their two-game Michigan swing at Kalamazoo College tomorrow, Saturday, September 1 at 5:00 p.m. (ET). Â