WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Coming off a groundbreaking campaign, Grace’s men’s soccer team roars into the 2024 season with high anticipation.
The Lancers graduated a pair of NAIA All-Americans, but Grace returns a large portion of its core under sixth-year head coach Arron Patrick.
Grace produced one of its best seasons ever in 2023. The team went 15-5-2 overall, finishing as the runner-up in the Crossroads League (7-1-1).
Nationally, Grace made waves as well. The Lancers were selected as one of the host sites for the NAIA Men’s Soccer Championships – a first accomplishment for the program – and advanced to the NAIA’s Round of 16.
“We are thankful for the success our team has had. Our teams have gone further than ever before, but for us, our focus is less on results and expectations and more about raising our internal standards,” Patrick said. “This group knows how to work hard, and our newcomers coming in understand that is our expectation as well. We continue to work on increasing our internal standards as a program and trust the process to keep improving.”
The Lancers will play a challenging slate of opponents. Adding to the team’s strength of schedule will be four straight top-15 ranked teams in the span of 14 days; three of those contests will be away from home.
Grace also played a difficult schedule last year, which resulted in upset victories over the No. 5, No. 7 and No. 13-ranked teams.
No longer a secret at the national level, the Lancers have a definitive target on their back. Grace is ranked No. 7 in the NAIA’s preseason Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the squad’s highest preseason ranking in program history.
The conference continues to improve as well. The Crossroads League saw three teams advance to the final site of the NAIA tournament, each of which is ranked in the preseason poll.
To ride the ebbs and flows of the season, Grace will rely on the experienced leadership from captains Matteo Conci and Felipe Gruber.
Conci has been an All-League goalkeeper in each of his first three seasons; he provides a steady, confident presence in goal for the Lancers.
Gruber is returning to the field after sitting out last year due to injury. The crafty attacker has 21 goals and 40 starts in his career and will be a welcome return to Grace’s firepower.
Grace will need to replace a goalscoring hole left by NAIA Second Team All-American Martim Sequeira, who finished fourth in the nation with 21 goals scored.
Patrick was confident that his team would score goals this fall – albeit the manner may look much different.
Grace’s offense will have several options this year, due in part to Grace’s diverse personnel. The Lancers will have options to attack within possession, off set pieces or via direct route because of a variety of playing styles on Grace’s roster.
“We will look different this year, and that’s ok. It feels fresh,” Patrick said. “We have different options this year to score goals. We can be a bit more direct if needed or a bit more physical. That’s a good thing to keep defenses guessing.”
Josh Cruz and Kyle Holwerda are back in the forward rotation after combining for nine goals last year. And newcomers Joao Laranjo and Nathan Van Keulen seem poised to make contributions in front of goal as well.
The midfield is deep and talented. Juan Garcia and Daniel Santos Rosa have been All-League contributors for Grace, and Maxime Bregeon and Seongwhi Lee played major minutes in 2023.
Defensively, Patrick has a big, physical line to protect the goal. Gavin Morgan, Tren Schurgers, Dan Allen helped Grace excel defensively in 2023 as the Lancers surrendered just 19 goals in 22 matches.
Vasco Tavares and Pedro Pina Simon fit that mold as well, giving the Lancers an imposing presence at the back. The group is strong and adds a dangerous element offensively on set pieces.
But beyond the groundbreaking success on the field, Patrick was more excited to see how the group was growing away from the game. The returners have been leading well, and the newcomers are following along quickly, according to Patrick.
“Our team has developed so much spiritually and in their leadership abilities over the past several years. A big push for us this year is to show people what we’re about even more,” Patrick said. “We want to expose more people in the community to our program so that they can see how God is growing these guys. That’s much more important than the results on the field.”
The Lancers will kick off their season on Thursday at home against William Woods at 7 p.m. Grace remains home on Saturday for a clash against No. 14 Mid-America Christian at 1 p.m.