WINONA LAKE, Ind. – A pair of goals from Grace's senior forward Kyle Hamlin lifted the Lancers' soccer team to a 2-0 win over Cardinal Stritch on Saturday.

Hamlin's brace happened in a two-minute outburst from the Lancers, who improved to 3-2 on the season. Grace has won its past three matches, all of which were shutout wins.

"That was a good win against a quality CCAC team. Cardinal Stritch is consistently a strong program, and I thought our guys stepped up tonight," said Grace head coach Matt Hotchkin. "We are improving in some of the areas that we've been focusing on. We are far from where we need to be as a team, but the progress is clear."

Grace enjoyed a larger portion of possession in the first half, producing several goal-scoring opportunities. Nakilee Weni created space at the top of the penalty box for a shot, but his attempt was stopped with a diving save. Kyle Hamlin was the first to react to the rebound, and he poked in the game's first goal in the 19th minute.

Two minutes later Grace earned a corner kick, and Josiah Osborn lofted his cross to the far post. Damon Binkley headed a pass to the middle of the box, and Hamlin was there to finish the play, heading his shot above the goalkeeper for a goal at the 20:26 mark. Hamlin's two goals came in a span of 139 seconds.

The score remained 2-0 as the squads entered halftime.

The second half saw a more open game with entertaining back-and-forth action across the field. A total of 20 shots were taken after halftime, 11 for the Wolves (1-1) and nine for the Lancers.

Thomas Tydeman and Binkley had the best looks for Grace in the second half, but Cardinal Stritch held firm during each attack.

The Wolves nearly pulled a goal back late in the game with a hard shot driven toward Grace's goal, but goalkeeper Robbie Barnhill made a lunging one-handed effort to keep Cardinal Stritch off the scoreboard. Barnhill picked up his third straight shutout in goal, making six saves.

Binkley, Hamlin and Colin Cape paced Grace's offense with three shots apiece, and Tydeman fired two shots on goal.

"The season is long, and our focus is on constant improvement. Dan [Smith] was strong off the bench tonight. Our defense was steady, possession improved in the midfield, and our forwards had good speed," Hotchkin said. "Damon Binkley and Kyle Hamlin each played strong tonight, and this was a total team effort."

The Lancers head up to Spring Arbor, Mich., next weekend for a pair of neutral-field games. Grace will play Cornerstone on Sept. 11 and Roosevelt on Sept. 12.