Grace men’s soccer sinks Maple Leafs
WINONA LAKE, Ind. – Grace’s men’s soccer team may have been outshot on Saturday, but it didn’t matter when two of those shots came from Marcelo Talamas.
Talamas scored twice in the span of three minutes, lifting to the Lancers to a 2-0 victory over Goshen at 1st Source Bank Field.
The junior forward has now scored 11 goals in 10 matches to lead the Lancers (7-1-2, 1-0-1 Crossroads League).
The match started tamely as the sides settled into conservative styles. Goshen built a stingy wall of defense, allowing the Lancers to dominate possession but limiting goal-scoring opportunities.
Grace did not record its first shot until 20 minutes into the match. Omar Gonzalez had a breakaway but misfired. Seconds later Ulisses Miranda tried to redirect a loose ball, but his effort was saved.
Goshen countered effectively; the Maple Leafs (4-6, 0-2 CL) were able to find several threatening chances in the half off the counter.
Gonzalo Salo made three saves in the half, including a few impressive stops to keep Goshen off the scoreboard.
Talamas checked into the game as a substitute with 20 minutes remaining, and he made an immediate impact.
A minute after subbing into the game, Talamas tried a shot that was saved. His next two shots won the game.
In the 30th minute, Jordan Jayapuram and Miranda connected quickly in the middle of the field, and Miranda found Talamas with a leading pass. Talamas calmly dribbled around the goalkeeper and passed the ball into the empty net.
Three minutes later, he scored again. Ze Maria Goncalves backheeled a pass toward a speeding Talamas. A Goshen defender tried to pass the ball back to his goalkeeper, but Talamas alertly intercepted it. On his first touch, Talamas deftly chipped the charging goalkeeper from 20 yards away for a 2-0 lead.
Grace went into halftime with a 2-0 lead, despite taking just five shot attempts.
Ten minutes into the second half, Talamas almost headed in a cross from Goncalves, but his hard effort was saved. Miranda also had a quick attack that whizzed just beyond the far post.
Goncalves and Jordan Jayapuram were active in the second half; the pair nearly connected on numerous chances, but the Maple Leafs’ goalkeeper showed good instincts to snuff out any opportunities.
Goshen did its best to claw back into the match, trying 11 shots after halftime. But the Maple Leafs could not solve Salo’s goaltending. The freshman made four more saves after halftime to earn the clean sheet.
The final five minutes provided loads of action. Miranda spotted the goalkeeper off his line and tried a curled effort from beyond the penalty box, but his shot bounced off the crossbar.
Goshen countered, and Ollie Smith had space for a clean shot in the box, but Salo parried the effort wide.
One minute later, Togo Narusawa and Henrique Cerruti combined for a quick build-up. The play ended up with Gonzalez, but his attempt was saved.
Goshen ended the match with an 18-11 edge in shots and 6-1 edge in corner kicks.
Salo made seven saves in the victory; Ivan Santagiuliana, Gabriel Dos Santos, Philipp Arnold and Togo Narusawa helped secure the shutout victory.
The Lancers, unbeaten in their last eight contests, will be on the road next week for matches at Bethel and Taylor.