BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – Grace's men's soccer team did not allow a goal for the first nine halves of the 2012 season. Olivet Nazarene broke that streak on Tuesday with three goals in a 3-1 victory over the Lancers.

For the Lancers (4-1), costly defensive mistakes allowed the Tigers (3-2) to hand Grace its first defeat of the season.

Olivet Nazarene recorded a 6-2 shot advantage in the first half, but neither team managed to score in the opening 45 minutes of play.

Less than a minute into the second half, however, the Tigers pounced on a momentary lapse in Grace's defense to score the opening goal.

Grace surrendered its second goal of the year just seven minutes later. The Lancers, forced to play with offensive abandon, saw a third goal score against their defense midway through the half.

Olivet Nazarene's three goals in the second half came on just four shots.

Finally Grace found the back of the net at the 79:34 mark. Trent Smith served a cross into the penalty box, which Ben Bassous finished to pull the Lancers back into contention.

Bassous' goal would prove to be the final tally of the game, however, as the Lancers experienced their first loss of the year.

“I thought we did a good job of controlling possession, but our offensive execution was poor,” said head coach Matt Hotchkin. “The score doesn't totally reflect how the game was played. We missed three wide-open opportunities to score which cost us big time. That could've changed the focus of the game to us controlling the action. We are frustrated with the result, but it's a good learning experience for us to assess where we are at and learn.”

Overall, Grace was outshot 10-8 while both teams recorded four corner kicks.

The physical match resulted in 34 fouls and five yellow cards. Olivet Nazarene was responsible for 20 fouls and three bookings.

Freshman Steven Fiema led Grace with two shots and one shot on goal. Seven Lancers tallied a shot in the match.

The Lancers will hope to get back on the winning track with a 3 p.m. match at Northwestern Ohio on Saturday.