Grace, Bethel Play To Scoreless Tie In Men's Soccer
October 2, 2017 at 4:17 p.m.
By Staff Report-
Although neither team could score, the sides played an intense and entertaining match in front of an energetic crowd at 1st Source Bank Field.
“We didn’t want a tie out of that game, and I thought the guys showed that they were ready to win it. But this was a good turnaround game for us overall, helping us get out of our slump,” said Grace head coach Matt Hotchkin. “We are going after constant improvement, and I think the guys are making progress in that regard. Our desire is to take this conference one game at a time, so we turn our focus to Marian next.”
In the early portion of the match, Bethel had the larger part of possession, but the Lancers (3-2-4, 0-0-1 Crossroads League) had better chances.
Grace earned a free kick from 21 yards out, but Cody Boerema’s free kick was blocked.
A similar play happened near the end of the half. Boerema perfectly placed a free kick to the far post, and Bethel’s goalkeeper just poked the shot wide enough to hit the post. Grace scored on the ensuing loose ball, but the official disallowed the goal due to offsides.
Bethel picked up urgency in response to Grace’s close call and had its strongest looks of the half in the final minutes. But the teams still went into halftime scoreless.
After a relatively calm first half filled with possession, the second half saw play open up tremendously. Grace began to assert itself with its pace in attack and fired seven shots in the second half.
Joshua Coupar tried his hand at a free kick five minutes into the half, but his high, curling effort was saved.
Ten minutes later, Marcelo Talamas nearly scored. He was on the receiving end of a well-placed cross, but his sliding shot was saved.
The Pilots (6-2-2, 0-0-1 CL) looked their best counterattacking after halftime. Bethel found space on a counter with 18 minutes left in regulation, but a hard shot from the right side of the penalty box was saved by Kurt Hamlin.
Grace seemed ready to score in the first overtime. The Lancers kept pressure on Bethel’s defensive end, taking four shots.
Boerema had three shots on goal alone in the 10-minute period with his last effort nearly scoring. He fired off a low blast from outside the penalty box, but his shot to the far post was stopped at the goal line by a Pilot defender.
The second overtime saw another goal waved off for the Lancers. Damon Binkley broke free on a long run toward Bethel’s goal. He beat the Pilots’ goalkeeper one-on-one, but he was judged to be offside to keep the match scoreless.
Hamlin came up with a pair of important saves in the second overtime, using quick reflexes to deny a goal-scoring chance from the Pilots in the last minutes.
Both teams fired 16 shots with 12 of Grace’s shots going on frame. Boerema tried seven shots, and Talamas shot three times.
Hamlin made eight saves to record the 110-minute shutout for Grace. He was defended well by Coupar, Josiah Osborn, Gabriel Osti and Zeb Johansson.
“We had some guys step up tonight, especially as we were missing two starters. I thought Colin Cape played a really focused game, and Togo [Narusawa] and Ulisses [Miranda] were solid tonight,” Hotchkin said. “It was especially good to get Cody back on the field with decent minutes. I think everybody can see what he is capable of.”
The Lancers resume league action on Wednesday, traveling to Marian for a 7 p.m. match.
Volleyball
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – Grace’s volleyball team ended the Olivet Nazarene Tournament on Saturday with a pair of sweeps.
The Lady Lancers downed Indiana Tech and St. Francis (Ill.) without dropping a set, despite playing shorthanded due to injuries.
In the opener, Grace beat Indiana Tech for the second time this season. The Lady Lancers (13-9) pulled out three close-set victories in a 3-0 rout.
In the first set, Grace’s offense blitzed the Warriors. The Lady Lancers had 14 kills on just one error in a 25-22 win. Indiana Tech led 17-15, but Grace overcame that deficit thanks to late kills from Naarah Foster, Sierra Smith and Caylie Teel.
Grace trailed again in the second set, falling behind 15-10. But strong serving from Savannah Hart helped Grace to six straight points. The Warriors never saw the lead again and lost 25-20.
The third set was a carbon copy. Indiana Tech led for much of the opening portions, seizing a 21-16 lead.
Grace rallied with a 9-2 run to win the set. Teel had three timely kills to give Grace momentum, and Teel and Hart ended the match with a block point to win 25-23.
Feddema had nine kills and one error for a .364 percentage, and Foster and Smith also tallied nine kills.
Teel produced eight kills and 14 digs, Alexa Hill passed out 36 assists, Sara Miller had 18 digs, and Gina Novotny added 10 digs.
Grace’s sweep in the second match of the day over St. Francis was even more emphatic. The Lady Lancers won by at least eight points in all three sets, including a 25-14 win in the third set.
St. Francis was held to 23 kills and 19 errors as a team, compared to 37 kills for the Lady Lancers.
Teel racked up a double-double of 10 kills and 15 digs, and Smith led all players with 13 kills.
Feddema was efficient with five kills on seven attempts, Miller had a match-high 23 digs, and Novotny added 12 digs.
The Lady Lancers resume Crossroads League play on Friday, playing at Huntington at 7 p.m.
Women’s Golf
FORT WAYNE – Grace’s women’s golf team shot a stellar 315 on the second day of the St. Francis Invitational.
The Lady Lancers finished sixth out of 11 teams, jumping up two spots on the leaderboard due to Saturday’s sizzling finish. Grace’s 315 was the second-lowest team round in program history.
Grace bettered its score on Friday of 339, dropping its collective score by 24 strokes.
Anna Marshall, Sydney Abbott and Lauren Keiser all shot sub-80 on Saturday. Marshall’s 77 tied for the fifth-lowest individual round ever by a Lady Lancer, and Abbott and Keiser both had a 79.
Kristin Holt recovered from a first-round 93 to produce an 80 on Saturday, and Libby Tully carded an 87-86.
Marshall’s 158 was good for 11th-best in the tournament, held at Cherry Hill and Cobblestone golf courses in Fort Wayne.
The Lady Lancers take two weeks off before tackling the Mt. Vernon Nazarene Invitational on Oct. 14.
Men’s Tennis
MARION – Despite a 7-2 loss for Grace’s men’s tennis team on Saturday to Indiana Wesleyan, the Lancers still had a few reasons to celebrate.
Grace’s ace Danila Kurkulin wrapped up an unblemished regular season at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. He beat every Crossroads League opponent en route to a 9-0 regular season.
Additionally, Grace’s No. 3 doubles unit handed the Wildcats’ No. 3 team its first defeat of the year. Conner Bates and Adam Yoder teamed up for an 8-6 upset for the Lancers (4-5, 4-4 Crossroads League).
The Wildcats (12-0, 9-0 CL) completed a perfect regular season to win the league championship. IWU will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s CL Tournament. Grace is the No. 7 seed and will play at No. 2 Marian on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
“We played very well up and down the lineup today. IWU had to earn its win against us,” said Grace assistant coach Andy Lewis. “For Danila to remain undefeated and for No. 3 doubles to give IWU their first loss of the year were both tremendous feats.”
Although neither team could score, the sides played an intense and entertaining match in front of an energetic crowd at 1st Source Bank Field.
“We didn’t want a tie out of that game, and I thought the guys showed that they were ready to win it. But this was a good turnaround game for us overall, helping us get out of our slump,” said Grace head coach Matt Hotchkin. “We are going after constant improvement, and I think the guys are making progress in that regard. Our desire is to take this conference one game at a time, so we turn our focus to Marian next.”
In the early portion of the match, Bethel had the larger part of possession, but the Lancers (3-2-4, 0-0-1 Crossroads League) had better chances.
Grace earned a free kick from 21 yards out, but Cody Boerema’s free kick was blocked.
A similar play happened near the end of the half. Boerema perfectly placed a free kick to the far post, and Bethel’s goalkeeper just poked the shot wide enough to hit the post. Grace scored on the ensuing loose ball, but the official disallowed the goal due to offsides.
Bethel picked up urgency in response to Grace’s close call and had its strongest looks of the half in the final minutes. But the teams still went into halftime scoreless.
After a relatively calm first half filled with possession, the second half saw play open up tremendously. Grace began to assert itself with its pace in attack and fired seven shots in the second half.
Joshua Coupar tried his hand at a free kick five minutes into the half, but his high, curling effort was saved.
Ten minutes later, Marcelo Talamas nearly scored. He was on the receiving end of a well-placed cross, but his sliding shot was saved.
The Pilots (6-2-2, 0-0-1 CL) looked their best counterattacking after halftime. Bethel found space on a counter with 18 minutes left in regulation, but a hard shot from the right side of the penalty box was saved by Kurt Hamlin.
Grace seemed ready to score in the first overtime. The Lancers kept pressure on Bethel’s defensive end, taking four shots.
Boerema had three shots on goal alone in the 10-minute period with his last effort nearly scoring. He fired off a low blast from outside the penalty box, but his shot to the far post was stopped at the goal line by a Pilot defender.
The second overtime saw another goal waved off for the Lancers. Damon Binkley broke free on a long run toward Bethel’s goal. He beat the Pilots’ goalkeeper one-on-one, but he was judged to be offside to keep the match scoreless.
Hamlin came up with a pair of important saves in the second overtime, using quick reflexes to deny a goal-scoring chance from the Pilots in the last minutes.
Both teams fired 16 shots with 12 of Grace’s shots going on frame. Boerema tried seven shots, and Talamas shot three times.
Hamlin made eight saves to record the 110-minute shutout for Grace. He was defended well by Coupar, Josiah Osborn, Gabriel Osti and Zeb Johansson.
“We had some guys step up tonight, especially as we were missing two starters. I thought Colin Cape played a really focused game, and Togo [Narusawa] and Ulisses [Miranda] were solid tonight,” Hotchkin said. “It was especially good to get Cody back on the field with decent minutes. I think everybody can see what he is capable of.”
The Lancers resume league action on Wednesday, traveling to Marian for a 7 p.m. match.
Volleyball
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – Grace’s volleyball team ended the Olivet Nazarene Tournament on Saturday with a pair of sweeps.
The Lady Lancers downed Indiana Tech and St. Francis (Ill.) without dropping a set, despite playing shorthanded due to injuries.
In the opener, Grace beat Indiana Tech for the second time this season. The Lady Lancers (13-9) pulled out three close-set victories in a 3-0 rout.
In the first set, Grace’s offense blitzed the Warriors. The Lady Lancers had 14 kills on just one error in a 25-22 win. Indiana Tech led 17-15, but Grace overcame that deficit thanks to late kills from Naarah Foster, Sierra Smith and Caylie Teel.
Grace trailed again in the second set, falling behind 15-10. But strong serving from Savannah Hart helped Grace to six straight points. The Warriors never saw the lead again and lost 25-20.
The third set was a carbon copy. Indiana Tech led for much of the opening portions, seizing a 21-16 lead.
Grace rallied with a 9-2 run to win the set. Teel had three timely kills to give Grace momentum, and Teel and Hart ended the match with a block point to win 25-23.
Feddema had nine kills and one error for a .364 percentage, and Foster and Smith also tallied nine kills.
Teel produced eight kills and 14 digs, Alexa Hill passed out 36 assists, Sara Miller had 18 digs, and Gina Novotny added 10 digs.
Grace’s sweep in the second match of the day over St. Francis was even more emphatic. The Lady Lancers won by at least eight points in all three sets, including a 25-14 win in the third set.
St. Francis was held to 23 kills and 19 errors as a team, compared to 37 kills for the Lady Lancers.
Teel racked up a double-double of 10 kills and 15 digs, and Smith led all players with 13 kills.
Feddema was efficient with five kills on seven attempts, Miller had a match-high 23 digs, and Novotny added 12 digs.
The Lady Lancers resume Crossroads League play on Friday, playing at Huntington at 7 p.m.
Women’s Golf
FORT WAYNE – Grace’s women’s golf team shot a stellar 315 on the second day of the St. Francis Invitational.
The Lady Lancers finished sixth out of 11 teams, jumping up two spots on the leaderboard due to Saturday’s sizzling finish. Grace’s 315 was the second-lowest team round in program history.
Grace bettered its score on Friday of 339, dropping its collective score by 24 strokes.
Anna Marshall, Sydney Abbott and Lauren Keiser all shot sub-80 on Saturday. Marshall’s 77 tied for the fifth-lowest individual round ever by a Lady Lancer, and Abbott and Keiser both had a 79.
Kristin Holt recovered from a first-round 93 to produce an 80 on Saturday, and Libby Tully carded an 87-86.
Marshall’s 158 was good for 11th-best in the tournament, held at Cherry Hill and Cobblestone golf courses in Fort Wayne.
The Lady Lancers take two weeks off before tackling the Mt. Vernon Nazarene Invitational on Oct. 14.
Men’s Tennis
MARION – Despite a 7-2 loss for Grace’s men’s tennis team on Saturday to Indiana Wesleyan, the Lancers still had a few reasons to celebrate.
Grace’s ace Danila Kurkulin wrapped up an unblemished regular season at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. He beat every Crossroads League opponent en route to a 9-0 regular season.
Additionally, Grace’s No. 3 doubles unit handed the Wildcats’ No. 3 team its first defeat of the year. Conner Bates and Adam Yoder teamed up for an 8-6 upset for the Lancers (4-5, 4-4 Crossroads League).
The Wildcats (12-0, 9-0 CL) completed a perfect regular season to win the league championship. IWU will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s CL Tournament. Grace is the No. 7 seed and will play at No. 2 Marian on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
“We played very well up and down the lineup today. IWU had to earn its win against us,” said Grace assistant coach Andy Lewis. “For Danila to remain undefeated and for No. 3 doubles to give IWU their first loss of the year were both tremendous feats.”
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092