WINONA LAKE - Grace College’s men’s soccer team picked up its 10th win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Saint Francis on Wednesday night.
With the victory, the Lancers (10-2-1, 4-0-1 Crossroads League) now hold sole position of 1st place in the conference at the midpoint of the Crossroads League schedule.
Saint Francis (7-4-3, 0-4-1 CL) battled hard throughout the match, but Josh Cruz would lift Grace to victory with his second half goal.
Grace had a flurry of chances 10 minutes into the game. Daniel Santos Rosa had a chance from the right side of the box, but his shot was denied by a sliding Cougar defender.
Just second later Juan Garcia attempted a low crossing pass that intended for a readied Martim Sequeira, but once again the USF defense hustled to spot to deny the chance.
The Lancers had another chance in the 15th minute courtesy of Sequeira, but his long shot drifted just wide of goal.
Neither team found much room to operate in the middle portion of the half as the game remained deadlocked zero.
The Cougars first shot of the game came with 14 minutes left in the half, but the attempt was easily handled by Matteo Conci.
Kyle Holwerda subbed into the game with 5:50 left before the intermission and wasted little time making his presence felt.
The junior outworked a pair of Cougars players for a ball at the top of the penalty area and blasted a shot past the USF keeper to push the Lancers ahead 1-0 as the game entered the intermission.
At the half Grace held a 5-2 shot advantage and a 3-1 corner kick advantage.
As the second began, Grace continued to push the pace of play.
The Lancers nearly saw their lead doubled by Garcia whose 20-yard attempt was pushed wide of goal by the diving keeper.
Frederik Christmann had two chances from the same spot but each time the USF defense was up to the task.
The Cougars drew even with 20 minutes left in the game. USF took advantage of a corner kick opportunity and a well placed shot off the head of a Cougars’ player beat Conci to tie the game 1-1.
The deadlock was short lived though as Grace quickly responded with a marker of their own.
Cruz took advantage of a miscue by the Cougars keeper and confidently buried the go-ahead goal less than three minutes after USF had tied the game.
The quick response from Grace seemed to deflate the upset minded Cougars as the Lancers held on for the 2-1 victory.
The Lancers ended the game with an 11-7 shot advantage. Holwerda and Christmann led Grace with two shots apiece. Conci made two saves in the victory.
Next up for the Lancers is a home match with crossroads league foe Spring Arbor.

Women’s Tennis Wins On Senior Day
WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace’s women’s tennis team wrapped up the fall season with a 6-1 win over St. Mary’s on Wednesday afternoon. The fall finale marked Senior Day with Kiersten Martin and Anna Graves being honored before the match.
Grace led off the match with a doubles sweep to get on the board first. Jimena Ramirez and Alejandra Sandoval combined to go 6-1 over their opponents at No. 1 doubles. The clincher came from Molli Runestad and Kiersten Martin at No. 3 doubles with the duo also winning 6-1. Anna Graves and Lydia Ruegsegger picked up the sweep with a 6-4 showing.
Three singles points were decided in straight sets, while three others needed a third-set tiebreaker to determine a winner.
Wins at No. 1 and No. 2 in the lineup put the Lancers one point away from victory. Ramirez dropped just two games in her 6-2, 6-0 rout, and Sandoval won in similar fashion 6-1, 6-2.
Runestad provided the point to seal the victory from the No. 4 spot. She also won in straight sets, with hers by the score of 6-1, 6-1.
The final three points needed a tiebreaker to settle the point. Grace came out on top in two of the three to close the match 6-1.
Ruegsegger dropped a heartbreaker 10-8 in the superset tiebreaker. She split the first two sets 6-1.
Martin and Lydia Miller capped off the day with a pair of superset wins to finish the day. The first came from Miller. She battled back from being a set down to even the match and eventually earned a hard-fought 10-3 tiebreaker.
Martin added the final point with a 10-4 tiebreaking victory of her own. She jumped ahead early with a 6-3 triumph in the opening set, but fell 6-3 to level the score. She was able to regroup and close out the day 10-4 in the superset.
The Lancers will take a break from the courts over the winter and return to action with matches in the spring.
DOUBLES
Ramirez/Sandoval vs. Campbell/Kealy, 6-1
Graves/Ruegsegger def. Dechens/Gardner, 6-4
Runestad/Martin def. Gerner/Clearwater, 6-1
SINGLES
Jimena Ramirez def. Campbell, 6-2, 6-0
Anna Graves def. Kealy, 6-1, 6-2
Dechens def. Lydia Ruegsegger, 1-6, 6-1, 10-8
Molli Runestad def. Gardner, 6-1, 6-1
Kiersten Martin def. Gerner, 6-2, 3-6, 10-4
Lydia Miller def. Clearwater, 3-6, 6-4, 10-3