Lancers net three to beat USF
WINONA LAKE, Ind. – Grace’s men’s soccer team broke out of its scoring slump with a 3-0 rout of St. Francis on Wednesday.
The Lancers picked up their first Crossroads League victory of the young conference season as three different players found the back of the net.
After two conference matches, the Lancers (4-7, 1-1 CL) find themselves in a tie for fourth place in the league standings.
Grace dominated possession of the ball, despite playing with a significantly shortened bench due to quarantines. The Lancers had only five field players available as substitutes, and the team used all five.
Cole Voss began Grace’s scoring in the fourth minute. Voss swung a ball into a dangerous position from the right side of the field. USF’s goalkeeper could not handle Voss’s offering, and the ball bounced into the net at the 3:22 mark.
The Cougars (4-5-2, 0-2 CL) played defensively in the first half, even after Grace’s goal. The Lancers were content to own possession and search out passing lanes.
Grace kept the ball in USF’s end of the field for most of the half, racking up seven shots and three corner kicks.
But the Cougars managed to keep Grace off the scoreboard apart from Voss’s goal, and the teams entered halftime with Grace leading 1-0.
The Lancers needed just over 10 minutes in the second half to score again. Jonny Mora advanced the ball from deep in Grace’s end of the field and sent Tyler Brueckman on a run along the left sideline.
Brueckman squared a pass on the ground to Martim Cardoso, and Cardoso quickly pivoted and fired his shot past the goalkeeper at the 57:22 mark.
The third goal happened nine minutes later, putting an exclamation mark on Grace’s performance. Mitchel Strawser put in the grunt work, winning a ball in the midfield and quickly distributing to Ze Maria Goncalves. Two quick touches on the ball set up Goncalves for a 30-yard blast, which cleared the goalkeeper and ricocheted into the net off the crossbar.
Goncalves celebrated with his teammates in front of Grace’s fans and took a well-deserved bow at the end.
The Lancers ended the match with a 16-7 advantage in shots. Only three of the Cougars attempts were on target, although a few of these could have scored.
Matteo Conci was sharp to make three strong saves to record the shutout. He was protected well by the backline of Mora, David Koch, Colt Tanner.
Kyle Holwerda made his Lancer debut in Wednesday’s match.
The Lancers remain at home Saturday for a meeting with Spring Arbor. The match will climax Grace’s Homecoming weekend. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. at 1st Source Bank Field.
Recent Comments