ADRIAN, Mich. - At Zuidema Field, the homestanding Knights pushed across two goals in the second half and held on the rest of the way to defeat the Adrian women's soccer team 4-2 in a battle of the conference's top two teams.

Entering the contest with 15 points each in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) standings, Saturday's result means the Bulldogs will need to be victorious, or draw a tie on Tuesday against Albion in order to earn a bye to the conference semifinals.

"We're disappointed with the result, but certainly not the effort," noted head coach Ali Alamdari postgame. "The girls battled for the full 90 minutes with tired legs from the Hope makeup match, and gave themselves a shot on the road against a seasoned Calvin team."

Despite Saturday's match begin Adrian's second in three nights, the visitors wasted little before creating the game's first opportunity. On the second of consecutive corner kicks in the opening three minutes, a header by McKenna Mahoney missed wide to the left, nearly setting an early tone for the black and gold.

The ice would ultimately be broken by Calvin in the 36th minute, then doubled less than two minutes later.

No stranger to deficits, the Bulldogs came storming back off the ensuing kick-off. Freshman, Leah Homan connected on the first goal of her career just 15 seconds after the Knights found their second tally.

Then, just over a minute later, Eve Davis collected a long, forward pass and proceeded to dribble in along the left side of the penalty box before lofting a stunning strike over the head of Calvin goalkeeper, Sarah Hoekwater.

All told, the two sides combined for four goals on four shots in four minutes and 20 seconds to head into the halftime break knotted at 2-2.

In the second half, the Knights put the game out of reach with two goals from Sophie Mueller.

Offensively, Adrian finished with 14 shots, including six on goal. Mahoney paced the team with six shots. Kaitlyn Dake added three.

Between the posts, Taylor Fischer turned in another solid effort for the 'Dogs, compiling nine saves.

"The gauntlet continues against a tough Albion side on Tuesday," added Alamdari, "so we'll be ready to get back to work quickly."

Adrian's contest with the Britons will serve as the regular-season finale, and will kick-off from Docking Stadium at 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening.