Grace Nets Three Second-Half Goals In Win Over USF
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FORT WAYNE – After falling behind 1-0 to St. Francis, Grace’s men’s soccer team scored three unanswered on Wednesday night to capture a 3-1 win. The Lancers (7-3, 2-0 Crossroads League) stayed at the top of the league standings, joining Marian as the only 2-0 teams in the CL. The first half saw chances from both sides, but the match remained scoreless after 45 minutes. Seven minutes into the second half, the Cougars (0-9-1, 0-1-1 CL) broke onto the scoreboard to go ahead 1-0. Grace equalized two minutes later. In the 55th minute, Damon Binkley was fouled near the top of the penalty box. Kyle Hamlin stepped up to take the 20-yard free kick, and his low shot deflected into the back of the net. Grace used Hamlin’s goal to fuel its attack. Minutes later, Binkley got free on the right side of the field but fired his shot just wide. On Grace’s next attack, Dominic Harris made several nifty moves in tight spaces and played a cross in front of goal, but Binkley’s header went high. In the 78th minute, Hamlin tracked back from his forward position to make an interception. He passed to Nakilee Weni who juked his way toward the top of the box. Weni found enough space to unleash a 22-yarder with his right foot, and his low drive slammed inside the far post to give Grace its first lead. Grace thought it had a penalty kick a few minutes later, but the referee judged that Binkley was fouled at the outside edge of the box. The ensuing 18-yard free kick sailed high. The Lancers did not take long to tack on a third goal, however. Weni chipped a pass over USF’s back line to Harris who beat his defender to the near post and slipped in a shot past the goalkeeper at the 85:45 mark. Grace had a dominant 21-10 advantage in shots, including 15-5 in the second half. Grace also had an 8-5 advantage in corner kicks. Robbie Barnhill earned the victory in goal for Grace, making three saves in 90 minutes. Harris led all players with six shots and four shots on goal, and Weni had five shots. Binkley and Nikola Djordjevic notched two shots apiece. “Our guys were resilient tonight. I felt like St. Francis was anticipating better than us in the first half, and we were chasing too much. The second half was much better,” said Grace head coach Matt Hotchkin. “Even though we got scored on first, I felt like we were controlling the play. Our wingers Damon and Dominic were very dangerous tonight. They opened up the game, and our midfielders possessed the ball and set things up. Praise the Lord for a fun night and some great teamwork.” The Lancers will travel to Huntington for a league match on Saturday at 4 p.m. Volleyball Continues Streak MISHAWAKA – Grace’s volleyball team continued its climb up the Crossroads League standings with a 3-1 win at Bethel on Wednesday night. The Lady Lancers (13-9, 5-5 CL) have now won five of their past six matches, recovering from an 0-4 league start to jump up to fifth place after Wednesday’s victory. Grace’s offense was in peak form, hitting 55 kills on a .230 percentage for the match. The Lady Lancers’ offense was in full force in the opener. Grace pounded out 12 kills with just one error en route to a 25-15 win. Bethel evened up the match with a 25-18 win in the second, but Grace claimed a six-point victory in the third game at 25-19. The fourth set proved to be the tightest. Grace called a timeout trailing 22-21, and the strategy from head coach Katie Van Hofwegen paid off. Grace scored three of the next four points to go ahead 24-23 on a kill by Kelsee Zuidema. Bethel recovered with a kill to send the set to extra points. Kari Feddema got a kill on the next rally to make the score 25-24, and the Pilots (13-10, 6-4 CL) were called for a violation on the next point to give the match to Grace. Zuidema was an offensive force in the match, leading all players with 15 kills on a .520 percentage. She also racked up 3 aces, 6 digs and 3 block assists. Feddema tallied nine kills and two block assists, and Kaitlin Kerrigan had eight kills and 12 digs. Sara Miller finished with a match-high 23 digs. Laken Chaney and Taylor Baird both had double-doubles from the setting position with Chaney producing 28 assists and 12 digs.
