Grace Soccer Men Earn Fourth Straight Win
SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Grace College men’s soccer team continued its hot streak with a 2-1 victory over Cornerstone on Friday night.
The Lancers (4-2) won their fourth straight contest thanks to a pair of second-half goals.
“We weren’t perfect tonight, and we can continue to learn,” said Grace head coach Matt Hotchkin. “We struggled to make the necessary adjustments in the first half, but our guys were hopeful at halftime and we knew we could do the job. We have less than 24 hours to prepare for a quality Roosevelt team, and we will need all the rest we can get.”
The first half of action between Grace and the Golden Eagles (2-3) proved to be tame offensively compared to what was coming. The teams combined for seven shots with Cornerstone holding a slight 4-3 advantage. Both sides had two shots on goal in the first half as the match remained scoreless until halftime.
The excitement started in the 63rd minute. A well-worked attack from Grace resulted in an attack on the right side of the field. Kyle Hamlin linked up with Mitchell Zeilenga, and Zeilenga slotted home his first career goal at the 62:14 mark.
Cornerstone responded eight minutes later with the equalizer. The Golden Eagles capitalized on Grace’s miscommunication in the backfield to tie the match with 20 minutes remaining.
Thomas Tydeman then found his moment to shine. The junior forward took a pass from Jon Christensen and unleashed a laser of a goal from deep in the 75th minute to beat Cornerstone’s goalkeeper.
The Golden Eagles pressed hard for their second equalizer of the match, taking four shots and a corner kick over the final 15 minutes. But Grace’s defense denied each opportunity to hold on for the win.
Robbie Barnhill picked up the victory in goal for Grace, making six saves in 90 minutes.
The Lancers were outshot 17-8 in the match, and each team took five corner kicks.
“Cornerstone is a good team, and they are scrappy. In the second half we did a better job moving forward, and the game seemed to open up a bit,” Hotchkin said. “They missed a couple of good chances, but so did we. Thomas Tydeman’s goal was a real cracker from far out. But this was a team effort with many guys helping and supporting the collective unit.”
The Lancers will regroup with a quick turnaround on Saturday. Grace plays Roosevelt at 4 p.m. to conclude the Spring Arbor Invitational.