(Photo by Ralph Echtinaw)

Holland, Mich. - The defense for the Alma College women's soccer team stood tall on Saturday (Oct. 24) afternoon, playing to a 0-0 draw under wet and windy conditions at the Van Andel Soccer Stadium.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Postema (Marshall, Mich./Marshall) kept the Flying Dutch (14-2-2 overall 11-1-2 MIAA) at bay as the Scots (7-7-1, 6-6-1) were outshot 20-2. Postema made seven saves to record her second consecutive shutout.

Alma, currently in fifth place in the MIAA remains in contention for a spot in the league tournament with 19 points. The Scots have three matches remaining.

The first half was controlled mostly by the Dutch as they outshot the Scots 13-2. Postema stood tall in net, stopping several point-blank shots, including back-to-back chances in the goal area in the 35th minute to keep the match scoreless after 45 minutes.

In the second half, weather continued to be a factor as Alma was unable to record a shot. Postema stopped both of Hope's scoring chances in the second half and extra time as the Dutch recorded seven shots over the final 65 minutes.

Alma has their best scoring opportunity with under two minutes left in the match in a scrum in front of the goal, but the Scots were whistled offsides.

The Scots return home on Tuesday, Oct. 27, to host the Calvin College Knights in a 4:00 p.m. contest at Scotland Yard. The match has been designated as a pink game, and Alma will wear special pink kits to show their support of cancer awareness. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match.

NOTES

• Kelsey Postema has held opponents scoreless for the past 288:30. She has not let a goal in since giving up a penalty kick 1:30 into the match with Olivet on October 17. Since then, she has recorded 24 saves over the last three matches.

• With the tie, the Scots snapped a five-match losing streak to the Dutch.

• The contest marked the first scoreless tie since October 1, 2011, when Alma and Trine played to a 0-0 draw. 

QUOTES

Head Coach Ashley Bingaman

"Keeping a clean sheet against Hope is always good. The girls fought through the elements and played well. We did everything we needed to defensively to get an important point in the MIAA. Now we need to look forward to a big match against Calvin on Tuesday.

Kelsey has been playing really well recently. We've been working on a lot of different things to get her better and her confidence is up and she's holding on to the ball in difficult situations. The defense in front of her played well also. We had some key kids out but we didn't miss a beat and I attribute that to our depth. Kelsey made some big saves, but the defense also forced shots that weren't as quality.