LCA’s Anna Reimink fires a shot on target Friday against Trinity. (Photo by Mike Deak)

LAKELAND CHRISTIAN GIRLS 3, TRINITY 3

Lakeland was poised to run away with Friday night’s girls soccer match with Trinity. But as the second half unfolded, Trinity awoke.

Lakeland held a 2-0 lead at the break, only for Trinity to score three of the final four goals of the match to draw at LCA.

Jessi Calizo got LCA on the board early, driving through three Trinity defenders and hammering home the first goal. On a corner kick with just over 10 minutes left in the half, a bounding ball from Calizo pinballed around the gathered masses and Anna Reimink took the junk and buried it for a stunning 2-0 lead.

Grace Behrens got Trinity on the board shortly into the second half, but Calizo again found the net to give LCA a two-goal advantage. The Trinity pressure on the net increased, which created opportunities for Rachel Was and Christin Preuss to find goals and knot the match.

The two teams combined for 34 shots in the match, LCA with 20 of those attempts. Cougar keeper Maddie Paris made nine saves.

“We played probably the best half of soccer this season in the first half,” said LCA head coach Nat Raber. “The girls were fast and played with a purpose. We practiced a lot of corner kicks yesterday and it was very nice to score of one the next day. We just need to finish off the game. It was a very physical game.”

LCA sits at 5-1-2 on the campaign with its next match Monday at Wabash.

GRACE COLLEGE MEN 3, ROOSEVELT 1

A pair of late goals helped Grace’s men’s soccer team come away with a 3-1 win over a tough Roosevelt squad on Friday.

The match was played at Chicago’s Toyota Park, home to the MLS’s Chicago Fire.

The Lancers (4-1-1) claimed their third consecutive victory thanks to two goals in the final 16 minutes of play.

“We played as a team tonight, and everybody showed up to work. Roosevelt is a good team, and they are well-coached, so this is a quality win,” said Grace head coach Matt Hotchkin. “I was proud of the way the guys did everything today. They traveled well, they prepared well and then they executed well.”

In the first half, the Lakers (1-4) were primarily muted on offense. Grace held Roosevelt to just one shot attempt and two corners over the first 45 minutes.

The Lancers were unable to transform any of their four shots or five corners in the half into goals, setting up a blank slate for the second half.

Both teams picked up their attack after a scoreless first half. The Lancers got on the scoreboard first in the 66th minute.

Breno Oliveira sent in a long free kick towards Roosevelt’s goal, and Togo Narusawa was there to finish it off for his first goal of the season.

Roosevelt did not waste much time fighting back. The Lakers needed less than seven minutes to tie the score, finishing off a loose ball at the 72:11 mark.

Grace quickly snuffed out any momentum Roosevelt had with the game-winning goal two minutes later. Cody Boerema teed up Ivan Santagiuliana for a goal off a corner kick at the 74:32 mark.

The win was secured in the final minutes. Cole Voss helped spark a dangerous attack along the right side of the field, and Boerema was there to finish off the goal in the 85th minute.

Grace had a slight upper hand in offense statistically. The Lancers held a 12-9 advantage in shots with both teams recording eight shots after halftime. Grace also had an 11-5 edge in corner kicks.

Kurt Hamlin earned the win as goalkeeper, making four saves in 90 minutes.

Narusawa led Grace with three shots, and Boerema, Santagiuliana and Nikola Djordjevic each took two shots.

“We learned some things about our team today, and I think now our eyes are wide open. We are excited about our growth,” Hotchkin continued. “We have to improve still in a lot of areas, and tomorrow we will begin preparing for next week. But for tonight we are happy and thankful for a good day of work.”

The Lancers continue on the road Wednesday, taking on Holy Cross at 4 p.m.