UPLAND, Ind. – After a strong opening 45 minutes that saw the teams tied at 1-1, Grace's men's soccer team lost its edge after halftime to allow Taylor to pull away for a 4-1 Trojan victory.

The Lancers (7-4-2; 2-2-2 Crossroads League) equaled the Trojans in shot attempts, but they could only manage one goal from Shane Barthuly in their 11 shots.

The first half primarily belonged to Grace as they tallied nine of their 11 shots before halftime. Barthuly scored an unassisted goal in the 17th minute of play for Grace.

But Taylor found an equalizer less than 10 minutes before the end of the half to steal some momentum, and they continued their effort with the go-ahead goal 73 seconds into the second half.

The Lancers struggled to respond, recording just two shots in the second half while allowing the Trojans (7-7-1; 2-3-1 CL) to tally seven attempts. Taylor added insurance goals in the 76th and 85th minutes for the final margin of victory.

“It was a discouraging second half for us. We played so effectively for the first 45 minutes and really had control of the game,” said Grace head coach Matt Hotchkin. “Yet a game is 90 minutes and sometimes more. We lost our composure after their second goal just after halftime and stopped doing the things that gave us the edge in the game. It's a good lesson but costly for sure.”

Seven players recorded a goal for Grace led by three shots from Ben Cahill. Barthuly and Gift Sibukome added two shots apiece, and Trent Smith, Steven Fiema, Trenton Porter and Devin Kemmerer each had a shot attempt.

Taylor held a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks, and neither team was whistled for being offside.

“We now are left with having to pick ourselves up from a miserable result and use it to fuel our mentality on Saturday against Spring Arbor,” Hotchkin continued. “This will require total character.”

The Lancers will hope to regain its winning form on Saturday when they host league leader Spring Arbor to Miller Field for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Listen the game live here.