The Grace College women’s soccer team celebrates after a 2-1 win over Indiana Wesleyan Saturday in Winona Lake (Photo provided by Grace College Sports Information Department)

WINONA LAKE – The Grace College women’s soccer team ensured its finest season in program history was not finished on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Indiana Wesleyan in the NCCAA Midwest Regional Championship.

Freshman Faith Voehringer scored the game-winning goal in the 72nd minute to give the Lady Lancers an automatic bid into the NCCAA National Championships in Kissimmee, Fla., from Nov. 26-Dec. 1.

“The women came out and played well today. Wesleyan has been a good program for years and brought it against us today. The Grace women had good bouts of time on the ball and were very productive with that time,” said Grace head coach Michael Voss. “We got squirrely once but came right back to get ahead again. We had great production from the bench. Those players were a huge part of today.”

Grace’s possession-attacking style gave the Wildcats (14-5-1) fits for much of the match. The Lady Lancers (16-4-2) outshot Indiana Wesleyan 27-6 overall.

The first half belonged to Grace. The Lady Lancers held a 17-1 advantage in shot attempts during the first 45 minutes but could only manage to score once.

Kaitlan Wiles found Holly Bennett near the top edge of the penalty box. Bennett shielded a defender, turned to her left and buried a left-footed shot into the back of the net at the 33:10 mark.

Grace had several opportunities to add to their tally in the first half, including a pair of shots in close from Wiles and Jocelyn Evans.

Evans had a shot attempt cleared off the goal line by a Wildcat defender in the final minute of the first half as they held on to trail by one goal at the halftime break.

The Lady Lancers continued their relentless attack in the second half as Bennett nearly doubled her tally with a hard shot that whizzed outside the goal frame.

Evans made a terrific run from midfield shortly into the second half and picked out Mallory Rondeau for a clean look to the right of the goal, but Rondeau’s low shot was denied by the goal post.

The Wildcats found an equalizer in the 67th minute when they cleaned up a loose ball in the box, but Grace was swift in response.

Barely five minutes later, Carianne Sobey passed to Voehringer, who placed her shot with finesse past IWU’s goalkeeper at the 71:50 mark.

“I’m proud of this team not just because they play good futbol, but because of the way they live their lives, especially in big matches,” Voss continued. “It is so clear that this program loves the Lord, and this is most important.”

Strong defending from Ryann Casciari, Liz Casey, Heather Martin, Jessica Bickle and Jalisa Thayer allowed Indiana Wesleyan to have just three shots on goal. Carmen Barnhill was credited with the win in goal by making two saves in 90 minutes.

Fourteen Lady Lancers recorded a shot in the regional championship, led by four shots apiece from Bennett, Rondeau and Evans.

Grace earned its third trip in four years to the NCCAA Nationals. The Lady Lancers finished with a program-best 2-0-1 record last season in the national tournament.

Grace, who already has the program record for wins in a single season, will hope to win its first national title in team history by winning three games in Kissimmee, Fla.

Watch for further details regarding the national tournament on Grace’s athletic website, www.grace.edu/athletics.