WINONA LAKE – A hard-fought and often testy match resulted in defeat for the Grace College men’s soccer team on Tuesday night.

Mid-America Christian scored two goals in the final 15 minutes to defeat the Lancers 3-1 in Grace’s season opener.

The Tuesday night match at the Miller Athletic Complex included 41 fouls called, including nine cards issued.

The Evangels (1-1) struck early in the first period, shocking the home team with an early goal. Grace fought back on the strength of Kyle Hamlin’s creativity. The senior forward sparked no less than three goal-scoring opportunities over the first 20 minutes, eventually leading to the Lancers’ opening goal in the 11th minute.

Hamlin stole a dribble near midfield and started a quick counter toward MACU’s goal. He then sent a through ball behind the line to Damon Binkley, and the freshman forward beat the goalkeeper to the far post at the 10:05 mark.

Grace had several close misses in the first period, and the lack of finishing proved fateful in the second half.

With the level of physicality increasing in the second half, the Evangels capitalized with a goal against the run of play to take the lead in the 76th minute. To make matters worse, Grace was issued a red card one minute later. MACU responded by tacking on its third goal in the 79th minute on another counterattack. The match effectively ended in the 84th minute when a second red card was given to Grace as the Lancers finished the contest 11 vs. 9.

“The game was fast-paced at the beginning, and the physicality escalated quickly. We fell away from good possession and that really kept us from setting up enough quality chances,” said Grace head coach Matt Hotchkin. “Early in the second half I thought the game had shifted into our favor. We were creating some chances, and we had a good mix of possession and dangerous direct balls, but that didn’t last long enough. We have a lot of growing to do, and we will. We are capable of a lot more, so we will learn from this game and use it to prepare for Campbellsville on Saturday.”

The game ended with the Evangels having a 21-9 advantage in shots and 6-0 in corner kicks. Binkley and Hamlin had two shots apiece, and Thomas Tydeman  came off the bench to take a pair of shots as well.

The Lancers will look to rebound on Saturday with a match at Campbellsville on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Tigers are receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25.