Grace College’s men’s soccer team won the NCCAA Midwest Regional championship Saturday with a 2-0 win at Indiana Wesleyan. (Photo provided by Chad Briscoe of Grace College athletics)

MARION – Grace’s men’s soccer team capped off a dramatic week of NCCAA soccer action by beating Indiana Wesleyan 2-0 on the road on Saturday.

The Lancers, after winning three matches in eight days, claimed the NCCAA Midwest Region crown to advance to the 2016 NCCAA National Championships in Kissimmee, Fla.

The regional title ends an improbable season turnaround for Grace. The Lancers (10-7-3) finished the regular season in disappointing fashion in ninth place.

But head coach Matt Hotchkin helped Grace flip the script of their season. Grace defeated Lancaster Bible, Houghton and Indiana Wesleyan in the span of eight days, battling their way into an automatic bid to NCCAA Nationals. The national tournament in Florida runs from Nov. 28-Dec. 3.

To earn the trip to Florida, Grace had to defeat longtime nemesis IWU on its home field. The Lancers did so in impressive fashion, using goals from Nikola Djordjevic and Damon Binkley to dispatch the Wildcats (11-8-2).

Grace’s offense struggled to get on track in the first half. The Lancers only had two shots and zero corners; fortunately one of their shots found the back of the net.

Binkley created the first goal, beating IWU’s goalkeeper to a loose ball and playing a simple pass to Djordjevic in front of the net in the 40th minute.

Midway into the second half, the action picked up on both ends of the field. IWU had a shot that sailed just above the crossbar, but Djordjevic responded with a near-goal of his own that rolled wide of the net.

Grace grabbed control of the game for good in the 72nd minute. Binkley scored at the 71:34 mark for his fourth goal of the regional tournament.

The Wildcats were largely muted in the second half as Grace’s possession maintained control. IWU had two corner kicks in the last four minutes, but the Wildcats could not muster a shot attempt for the final 15:43 of the contest.

Kurt Hamlin and Robbie Barnhill split time in goal for Grace to earn the shutout; they combined to make four saves in 90 minutes.

Djordjevic led all players with four shots, and Binkley added three shots.