Fiema’s Goal Gives Grace Title
CEDARVILLE, Ohio – The Grace College men’s soccer team clinched its second straight berth into the NCCAA National Championships on Saturday thanks to a 1-0 win over Cedarville University.
Steven Fiema scored the only goal of the game in the 83rd minute to give Grace the championship of the NCCAA Midwest Region.
“I’m proud of the way the guys worked tonight. Cedarville is a good team and not many teams can move the ball like them,” said Grace head coach Matt Hotchkin. “We limited real quality opportunities for them, and we were able to get some good opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on. As a team, we want to praise God and thank everybody who has been cheering us on.”
The game started out slowly with each team only taking one shot apiece through the first 20 minutes.
The first half ended scoreless with just six shots tallied overall with the Yellow Jackets (17-4-1) favored 4-2 in attempts.
The Lancers (13-5-2) increased their pressure early in the second half. They earned two shots and two corner kicks in the first 12 minutes after halftime.
Grace finally broke through on a defensive miscue by Cedarville. Fiema pressured Cedarville’s goalkeeper into a hasty clearance, and Fiema deflected the attempted clearance off himself and into the net for an improbable goal at the 82:15 mark.
Grace’s defense held the Yellow Jackets to just two shot attempts over the final eight minutes to prevent Cedarville from scoring the equalizer.
Goalkeeper Collin Cone made a sure-handed save in the 88th minute when Cedarville volleyed from five yards away off a corner kick, and the Yellow Jackets headed wide of goal in their final attempt of the match.
“I felt we played better in the second half but still struggled to get on the same page,” Hotchkin continued. “We kept hustling and got some good counter-attack chances, and then we got a hustle goal from Fiema. This was a good lesson for him because he was frustrated with his play and had really gotten down. We told him to keep working – then that hard work paid off.”
Cedarville held a 9-5 advantage in shot attempts as well as a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks, but Cone made four saves in goal to post the shutout for the Lancers.
The Lancers will play at NCCAA Nationals for the second time under Hotchkin and will hope to win the first national title in program history.
Watch for further details regarding the national tournament on Grace’s athletic website, www.grace.edu/athletics.