By Josh Neuhart
Grace College Sports Information

FORT WAYNE – Grace’s men’s soccer team was unable to win its second straight Top 25 match in a week, losing at No. 21 Indiana Tech 2-0.

The Lancers (10-6-2) struggled to find their goal-scoring touch on Saturday, despite coming off a 4-1 rout of No. 14 Madonna on Tuesday.

Grace had 21 shots with 13 on goal, but the Warriors’ net remained unharmed throughout regulation.

The Warriors (6-0) struck first with a deep strike from beyond the penalty box in the 22nd minute, claiming a 1-0 lead.

Indiana Tech owned the larger share of attempts to start the game, firing off 12 shots in the opening half. Only five of those shots were on target, however.

Grace was much more precise with its attempts. All four of the Lancers’ shots were on goal, although none found the back of the net.

Felipe Gruber had two shots on goal before halftime, and Flavio Cruz and Jordan Jayapuram each tried one.

The start of the second half was played evenly with each team having advances at goal.

The Lancers seemed to be the offensive aggressors over the final 25 minutes.

With 24 minutes remaining, Grace earned a free kick in a threatening position after Ze Maria Goncalves was felled on a vertical run. But Ulisses Miranda’s shot sailed high of the goalpost.

Minutes later, Grace had two straight dangerous advances at Tech’s goal. Each time the Warriors escaped unscathed.

The second advance saw a short-range header saved to go along with three straight corner kicks.

As Grace pressed forward in pursuit of an equalizer, the Warriors capitalized. Indiana Tech added an insurance goal on a counterattack with 12 minutes remaining.

Mora had a low line drive in the box that was saved in the final three minutes, and David Koch had a diving header that just missed the mark. But Grace had to settle for the shutout defeat.

The teams combined to shoot 43 times, 22 for Tech and 21 for Grace. The Lancers had a 13-8 edge in shots on goal and 10-9 in corner kicks.

Jayapuram finished with three shots, all on goal, Marcelo Talamas tried four shots, and Frederik Christmann had three shots with two on goal.

The Lancers’ next scheduled match is at No. 12 Spring Arbor on March 19, although Grace may add more games before that date.

Grace played a trio of NAIA ranked opponents in February, including a narrow 2-1 loss to No. 8 Northwestern Ohio and a 4-1 win over No. 14 Madonna.