On Monday afternoon, the Alma College Women's Soccer team hosted Kalamazoo College in a game between two teams that had already clinched a MIAA playoff berth. The drama of the afternoon consisted of playoff seedings and who would play where in Thursday's first round.

The Scots jumped ahead 2-0 against the Hornets and led 2-1 at halftime. A scoreless second half allowed Alma to hold onto the win and secure the #3 seed, while Kalamazoo enters the playoffs as the #2 seed. This sets up another matchup between the two squads down in Kzoo on Thursday evening in the MIAA Semi-Finals.

Hope College finishes the regular season as the #1 seed and will host the #4 seed Albion College Britons also on Thursday. Start times for the Scots and Hornets will be 7:00 p.m., while the Flying Dutch and Britons will battle at 6:00 p.m.

"It was nice to win our final conference game at home and we can take confidence from our performance tonight," said Alma Head Coach Matt Saul. "We look forward to a return game with Kalamazoo on Thursday. This is now the playoffs and what he have worked for all season. It is now do or die and win or go home!"

The Scots struck first today when Sr. M/F Kailey Vlug (Coopersville/Coopersville) scored her third goal of the season from the middle of the box after the ball was crossed in front of the net. The goal was unassisted and came at 10:49 of the game.

Then, at 26:05, Sr. F Mackenzie Smith (Saginaw/Nouvel) made it 2-0 on a play that started with her attempting a penalty kick. After a save by Kalamazoo GK Lucy Mailing bounced out in front of the net, a scrum ensued and Smith got another shot off that bounced into the net off of the knee of a Hornets defender.

The talented Hornets were not going to go away quietly into the late fall afternoon and cut the Alma lead to 2-1 at the 32:05 mark of the first half. Kalamazoo D Suzanne Miller scored unassisted as she was able to take a loose ball in front of the net and knock it past Alma Fr. GK Rachael Fokken (Pinckney/Pinckney).

In the first 45 minutes, Kalamazoo had nine shots to Alma's seven and the Scots led in shots on goal by a five to three margin. The Hornets had a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks during the first half.

The second half was also very entertaining but the two teams reverted back to a more typical defensive mode on both sides of the pitch. It was by no means a game played in the middle of the field only, as each squad had opportunities but nothing substantial.

Kalamazoo had a nine to five advantage in total shots in the final frame (18-12 for the game) and had three shots on net compared to the Scots' two. The Hornets also had the only four corner kicks of the final 45 minutes, but no goals were scored and the home team walked off the field with the one goal victory.

Smith and Fr. M Olivia Whalls (Brighton/Brighton) paced Alma with three total shots a piece, with each of them and Vlug notching two on goal. Fokken made five saves in net to improve her 2014 record to 3-3.