Lancers to play for Crossroads League Championship
WINONA LAKE, Ind. – Grace College’s men’s soccer team clinched its spot in the Crossroads League tournament championship game with a 2-1 win over Spring Arbor on Wednesday night.
An early goal saw the Lancers (14-3-2) jump out to a lead that they would hold for 70 minutes.
A marker from Spring Arbor with just 8:48 left in the game put the result in question, But Martim Sequeira answered back less than two-minutes later to send Grace to the championship game.
The championship game will be hosted by the ninth ranked Bethel Pilots on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Cougars (11-5-4) started Wednesday night’s semifinal contest as the aggressor. Spring Arbor’s pressure forced the Lancers into a turnover deep in their own territory, and the resulting shot forced a leaping save from Conci to prevent the early marker.
The Lancers survived a pair of SAU corner kicks before Martim Sequeria scored his first of two goals.
Nelu Calcai sent in a crossing pass to Sequeira whose bicycle kick ricocheted off the top corner of the goal frame. Undeterred, Sequeira hustled back to his feet and scored his own rebound to push the lancers ahead 1-0 with 31 minutes left.
The Lancers controlled the pace of play for the remainder of the half, but neither side threatened as the game became a possession battle in the midfield.
At the half the shots were nearly identical with Grace holding a narrow 5-4 advantage. Matteo Conci saved both shots SAU put on goal, the Lancers scored on their only shot on target.
In the second half Conci smothered an early shot from the Cougars, as Grace clung to the one-goal lead.
The game continued to be a tactical chess match with neither squad opening opportunities for the other to take advantage on the counter attack.
As the clock ticked under 10 minutes it seemed as if Grace was destined to win 1-0. However, Spring Arbor had one last gasp left.
After patiently building an attack  from the midfield, the Cougars were awarded a corner kick and scored on the ensuing try to tie the game with just 8:48 left.
The tie would be short lived though, as the Lancers struck back a minute and 33 seconds later.
The ball came to Sequeira on a failed clearing attempt from the Cougars and the senior wasted little time blasting a shot on goal that took a deflection before hitting the back of the net to Grace back on top.
One last desperate attempt from SAU came up empty as Grace secured the 2-1 victory.
Sequeria led all players with five shots and Conci made three saves in the win. The Lancers outshot the Cougars 21-9
