Cameron Bates takes a swing at this weekend’s St. Francis Fall Invite. (Photo provided by the Grace College Sports Information Department)

A host of Grace College events took place Saturday, Sept. 29.

Grace’s men’s golf team placed fifth and the women sixth at the St. Francis Fall Invitational over the weekend.

The Lancer men lowered their team score by 18 strokes between rounds as the team continues to build momentum for the fall postseason.

Friday’s round was slightly windy and sunny with ideal temperatures at Autumn Ridge Golf Club. The Lancer men combined to shoot a 325, tied for fifth among the seven teams.

No Lancer managed to shoot below 80 on Friday with Jacob Abrahamson, Caleb Leak and Camden Gongwer each carding an 81.

Saturday morning’s weather was similar at Cherry Hill Golf Club. Leak dropped his score by seven strokes between rounds, carding an 81-74. He paced the Lancers and placed eighth on the individual leaderboard.

Noah Wright also enjoyed a seven-stroke improvement on Saturday, shooting 75 to finish with a two-day total of 157.

Gongwer, Abrahamson and Tim Rata all shot a 79 on Saturday; Abrahamson and Gongwer had identical totals of 160.

The Lady Lancers golf team finished sixth out of eight teams, playing at Cobblestone Golf Club on Friday and Cherry Hill Golf Club on Saturday.

Grace only managed one round in the 70s. Rachel Harvey shot a 78 on Friday, finishing with a two-day total of 164 to tie for the team lead.

Anna Marshall’s 82-82 tied with Harvey for Grace’s best finish, and Sydney Abbott was not far behind with an 85-82.

Lauren Keiser improved between rounds, producing an 86-83, and Kara Godsey rounded out the team’s scoring with a 175.

The Lady Lancers’ next tournament is the Mt. Vernon Nazarene Invitational on Oct. 13.

In the final match of the regular season, Grace’s women’s tennis team beat Alma 8-1 on Saturday.

With the victory, the Lady Lancers won their 12th match to break the all-time record for wins in a season.

“I’m really proud of our girls. We are successful because the people before us laid a foundation for our program, and our current girls have grabbed the reins and pushed it further,” said Grace head coach Marcus Moore. “I know our girls are excited, but they are in no way content about where we are. Our daily pursuit of growth does not have a finish line.”

The Lady Lancers (12-3) will start postseason play at home on Tuesday, hosting Taylor at 3:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Crossroads League Tournament.

Grace took two of the three doubles’ points to start the match. Emily Mast and Jenna Jackson were perfect 8-0 at No. 1 doubles, and Carrie Copeland and Molly Fitzpatrick won 8-4 at No. 2 doubles.

Copeland at No. 2 singles and Morgan Mast at No. 6 singles were flawless 6-0, 6-0. Jayna Armstrong (No. 4 singles) and Fitzpatrick (No. 5) both won quickly with a 6-0, 6-1 scoreline.

Emily Mast cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles, and Jackson won 6-3, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.

Grace’s women’s soccer team can’t seem to stop scoring. The Lady Lancers dispatched Goshen 6-0 on Senior Night at 1st Source Bank Field.

The Lady Lancers (10-1, 2-0 Crossroads League) are off to their second-best start in program history, just behind the 2015 squad which started 10-0-1.

In Grace’s current six-game winning streak, the Lady Lancers have outscored their opponents 32-1.

Grace scored early and often against Goshen on Saturday. Less than six minutes after kickoff, Grace was on the scoreboard. Kristen Bellinger tried a long-range effort which fooled the goalkeeper for a goal.

The second goal of the half came in the 33rd minute. Jenni Phillips beat her defender on the endline and centered a pass in front of goal to Joana Schimmel, and Schimmel placed her shot into the back of the net.

The score remained 2-0 at halftime with Grace dominating chances and time of possession.

The Lady Lancers were even more aggressive in the second half, seeming to wear down the Maple Leafs (4-3-2, 0-2 CL).

Phillips got a goal of her own in the 54th minute. Allison Vroon intercepted a pass by Goshen and found Phillips with a pass behind Goshen’s defenders. Phillips was tripped up by the Maple Leafs’ goalkeeper for a penalty kick, and Phillips calmly converted on her PK attempt.

Schimmel sparked Grace’s fourth goal in the 65th minute. She squeezed a pass between defenders to Liz Van Wormer at the top of the penalty box. Van Wormer quickly pivoted toward goal and unleashed a laser into the bottom corner of the net.

Senior Clair Snodgrass got in on the scoring at the 78:49 mark. Cassidy Wasson found Snodgrass in space on the right side of the penalty box, and Snodgrass shot above Goshen’s goalkeeper for her first goal of the season.

Snodgrass was on the assisting end of the final goal, just a few minutes later. She beat a defender on the right side of the field and fired a low cross in front of the net to Van Wormer, who powered in her second goal of the night.

The former Warsaw Lady Tiger graduates combined for three goals and an assist in the win. Phillips and Schimmel each had a goal and an assist.

Grace held a dominant 30-3 advantage in shots. Bethany Blackwood made three relatively easy saves in 90 minutes of work to earn the shutout, her eighth of the season.

The Lady Lancers hit the road next week, playing at Bethel on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

A first half lead did not hold up for Grace’s men’s soccer team in a 1-1 tie at Goshen on Saturday.

The Lancers (7-2-2, 1-0-1 Crossroads League) settled for a draw after two overtimes despite holding a dominant 25-11 advantage in shots.

Grace seemed to have the upper hand in the first half. The Maple Leafs (5-1-1, 0-1-1 CL) were held to just one shot in the first 20 minutes of the contest.

The teams remained scoreless until the final minutes of the first half. Grace began to break down Goshen’s defense, including a shot from Breno Oliveira that clanged off the crossbar.

The goal finally came in the 42nd minute. Brayton Taylor’s shot was stopped by Goshen’s goalkeeper, but Cody Boerema was there to finish off the rebound at the 41:41 mark.

Grace outshot Goshen 11-4 in the first half and 9-4 in the second half. But the Maple Leafs made their shots count by tying the match.

Goshen’s Nate Nussbaum converted on a long-range effort in the 69th minute to stun the Lancers and tie the score 1-1.

Goshen only mustered one shot over the final 21:42 of regulation compared to five shots by the Lancers. But the teams were unable to score, sending the match to overtime.

Grace had the better chances in the two overtime periods with three shots on goal; Goshen only had one shot on goal in the two 10-minute sessions.

But neither side managed to find the golden goal winner. Shots on goal from Josiah Osborn, Marcelo Talamas and Colin Cape in the final four minutes were all saved.

Oliveira led all players with six shots, and Damon Binkley and Togo Narusawa each had three shots.

Kurt Hamlin made six saves in 110 minutes of action as Grace’s goalkeeper.

“I thought we controlled the first half and then got too defensive-minded in the second. We tried to hold on to a lead by defending, and sometimes that just invites the pressure,” said Grace head coach Matt Hotchkin. “Goshen is a good team and well-coached, but we aren’t satisfied with the tie. We now set our minds on a strong Bethel team. It’s one at a time for us, and tonight we learned a little bit more about our team.”

The Lancers are at home for a pair of crucial matches next week. Grace hosts rival Bethel on Wednesday at 7 p.m. followed by Homecoming Saturday on Oct. 6 against Taylor at 2:30 p.m.