HUNTINGTON – Mallory Rondeau and Carianne Sobey gave Huntington’s defense fits on Saturday, leading Grace College’s women’s soccer team to a 4-0 victory. Sobey had a part in all four goals with three assists and a goal, and Rondeau finished with two goals and an assist in an impressive offensive display. With the win, the Lady Lancers (7-2-2, 3-0 Crossroads League) maintained a share of first place in the league standings. Grace will host their co-leader atop of the standings in No. 12-ranked Spring Arbor at Miller Field on Wednesday at 7 p.m. “This was a good outing from the women today. We had specific objectives for this match, and we met them,” said Grace head coach Michael Voss. “We implemented our style of possession-attacking futbol very well and stayed true in it for the duration. We created quality chances and finished. Each one of the women played her part.” Before 10 minutes had expired in Saturday’s match, the Lady Lancers had scored twice. Sobey created the first goal, spinning around a defender along the left endline and crossing to Rondeau for a finish. Two minutes later, Sobey had doubled Grace’s lead. Kelsey Christner played a pass to Marina Tolczyk through the Foresters’ defense, and Tolczyk’s cross from the right side was converted by Sobey in the ninth minute. Sobey and Rondeau teamed up with a double assist on Grace’s third goal against the Foresters (2-10, 0-3 CL), finding Holly Bennett for a long-range finish outside the penalty box in the 24th minute. Overall in the first half Grace held an 11-3 advantage in shots. Grace notched its fourth goal off a set piece in the 61st minute. Sobey launched a long free kick beyond Huntington’s defending line, finding Rondeau for a poke past the goalkeeper inside the penalty box. Sobey’s three assists in the match upped her total to six on the season and 33 in her career. She broke the program’s career assist mark on Sept. 13. Abby Schue earned the shutout victory in goal for Grace, making five saves in 90 minutes. Grace is receiving votes in the latest NAIA poll. The Lady Lancers need to improve just three spots in Tuesday’s poll to achieve the program’s first national ranking.
CROSS COUNTRY WINONA LAKE – As part of Grace’s Homecoming weekend, the Lancers’ cross country team hosted the Lancer Invitational on a chilly Saturday morning. The men and women both placed second in the competition at Miller Field. Freshman Nathan Lane highlighted Grace’s efforts and was the fastest scoring runner in the race, finishing in a time of 26:39 to lead all attached runners. Fellow freshman Tyler Houvener was second for the men’s team in 27:14, and sophomore Brandon Smith was third in 27:35. Collin Chupp (28:32) and Hunter Reed (28:39) rounded out the top-five scorers, and Austin Yoder was in the mix at 28:45. The men’s team placed second out of eight. "Nathan [Lane] ran a superb race today. Posting a time of 26:39 on our course at this time of year is impressive,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “The rest of our guys also ran very well, especially considering the cool and windy conditions and the fact that the course was a bit soft after all the rain this week. With three freshmen and two sophomores in our top six, I'm excited about what's ahead for this team." Katelyn McCullough led the Lady Lancers’ squad in a time of 19:55, finishing with the sixth-fastest time among attached runners. Megan Gast was second for the women with a time of 21:01. The next three runners for the Lady Lancers finished within a span of six seconds. Creigh Ogle (21:25), Alexis Nelson (21:27) and Sarah Hoff (21:31) rounded out the top five for Grace’s women’s squad. The women placed second out of nine teams. "The women ran a very solid team race. Katelyn [McCullough] did a good job up front, and our next six runners all finished within 46 seconds of each other,” Raymond said. “When our pack moves up a little as the year moves forward, we will have the chance to do even better as a team." The Lancers resume competition on Friday with the Bethel Invitational in South Bend.
MEN’S GOLF KENDALLVILLE – Grace’s golf team fired off a blistering second round at the St. Francis Invitational over the weekend, finishing fourth overall at Noble Hawks Golf Links. Grace finished tied for seventh overall after the first round, producing a 313 as a team. In the second round, Grace was even better. The Lancers’ second-round 307 was six strokes lower than any other team, and the Lancers jumped up three spots on the team leaderboard. Senior Taylor Fanning led Grace’s charge up the leaderboard, improving his total by eight strokes (80-72). His score of 72 in the second round was the lowest total on Saturday. Jon Schram was one stroke behind Fanning for ninth place overall, firing a 74-79, and freshman Brayden Glaser had a consistent 77-77 in the tournament. Taylor Ham finished with an 82-79, Daniel Zawlocki produced an 84-79, and Zachary Allyn carded an 84-84. The Lancers’ next fall tournament is today and Tuesday at the Brown Deer Park Golf Course, hosted by Cardinal Stritch University.
