LIMA, Ohio – The season opener for Grace's women's soccer team saw eight goals in a top-15 NAIA battle.

No. 3 Northwestern Ohio came out ahead of No. 11 Grace 6-2 as the Lady Lancers struggled to slow down the Racers' attack on Saturday.

The match started evenly but timidly as Grace took the only shot in the opening 10 minutes. The final 15 minutes produced four goals, however -- all from the feet of the Racers.

UNOH's pressing attack began to spark a few chances. A long pass squeezed past Grace's backline, but Abby Schue charged off her line and dove onto the ball to prevent a 1-on-1.

Grace's offense, meanwhile, struggled to produce dangerous shots in the opening half. Kristen Bellinger tried a long free kick which sailed wide of net midway through the half.

With 15 minutes left in the half, UNOH punctured Grace's defense. The Lady Lancers failed to clear a loose ball at the top of the penalty box, and the Racers capitalized to scrap a shot past Schue and take a 1-0 lead.

The Racers doubled their lead seven minutes later after a well-worked attack through the middle of Grace's defense.

Matters then went from bad to worse. The Racers knifed through Grace's defense for two more goals in the span of 64 seconds. The goals were separated in real-time by 30 minutes as a lightning delay paused game action.

The Lady Lancers pressed late in the half and earned a few corner kicks, but Grace could not get off a clear shot.

In the second half, Grace and UNOH both scored two goals apiece. The Racers scored their pair in the 54th and the 55th minute. The Lady Lancers responded with two goals of their own in the final 10 minutes.

Meredith Hollar scored first for Grace, blasting her shot beyond the touch of UNOH's goalkeeper in the 83rd minute.

At the 88:46 mark, Grace doubled its output with another goal. Liz Van Wormer set up Hannah Miller, and the senior converted the shot for her first goal in a Lady Lancer uniform.

Overall, Grace was outshot 20-8 in the match but only 8-5 in the second half. Hollar had three of Grace's eight shots, and Kristen Bellinger had two shots.

Freshmen McKenna Cruz, Van Wormer, Isabel Applequist, Flavia Faria, Corinne Villalobos and Joana Schimmel each made their Grace debuts.

"Today was a wakeup call for our crew. UNOH was very effective and efficient. They are a top-class team and demonstrated that. At times we were dreadful, extremely disorganized and undisciplined. We handed them too many great opportunities, and they made us pay. I'm not pleased with us giving away anything cheaply," said Grace head coach Michael Voss. "There were sections of good futbol from us. We did not sit in and bunker down, and I'm proud of the women for working hard. We've got work to do; that's obvious. We are nowhere near our best right now, but I have full confidence that each of the women will respond appropriately."

The Lady Lancers will take on another ranked opponent on Thursday, playing at No. 8 Martin Methodist at 7 p.m.