WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's men's soccer team suffered a heartbreak on Wednesday in the Crossroads League Tournament quarterfinals.

The Lancers (12-3-4) tied Indiana Wesleyan 3-3 after regulation and two overtimes. But the Wildcats (9-6-3) eliminated Grace in an epic penalty kick shootout.

Even before the match was decided in penalty kicks, Wednesday's quarterfinals had plenty of drama.

IWU, the No. 7 seed in the field, shocked Grace by scoring in the 24th minute to go ahead 1-0.

Grace managed to tie the score before halftime when Togo Narusawa assisted Ivan Santagiuliana.

The Lancers' momentum continued into the start of the second half. Breno Oliveira made a leading pass to Narusawa, and Narusawa's low blast beat IWU's goalkeeper for the go-ahead goal five minutes into the second half.

Midway into the half, Grace put the ball in the back of the net on a laser from Santagiuliana. But Grace's goal was disallowed due to a foul call seconds earlier.

With less than 10 minutes to play, Grace added an insurance goal. Marcelo Talamas was fouled, and Breno Oliveira took the long free kick in front of the Lancers' bench. His cross connected with Cody Boerema, whose looping header glanced off the post and into the net.

Boerema had a chance to score again minutes later on an empty net, but his chipped shot above the goalkeeper went wide of the net.

The Wildcats moved players into attack as they faced a two-goal deficit, and the tactic paid off. IWU incredibly tied the game, scoring twice in the final five minutes to force overtime.

The overtime periods were played evenly with IWU holding a slight 5-4 edge in shot attempts. But neither side was able to find a golden goal winner, sending the match to a penalty shootout.

IWU missed three of its first four penalty kicks to give Grace a golden opportunity; Kurt Hammlin came up clutch by saving two of those early attempts against the Wildcats.

Grace failed to capitalize, however, misfiring on three straight attempts to let the Wildcats even the score.

The PK shootout turned into an instant classic at that stage as each kick taker continued to convert. The shootout saw 19 consecutive successful PK attempts, reaching to 14 rounds of drama. But finally Grace was saved, allowing IWU to pull off the upset and reach the semifinals.

"The guys bounced back after an unsteady first 20 minutes and showed some courage to build a 3-1 lead. We had opportunities to get more, and we didn't have the steely mentality needed to finish the job. Truthfully we were sloppy tonight and overly emotional with the heaviness of the game," said Grace head coach Matt Hotchkin. "The decision to call back our fourth goal was an emotional momentum swing, and we lost composure and got disorganized."

Grace outshot IWU 25-18 overall in the contest, including 21-13 in regulation. Kurt Hamlin saved 10 shots in 110 minutes in a strong contest, and he even converted a PK attempt during the shootout.

Narusawa and Ulisses Miranda shot four times to lead Grace, and Colin Cape and Talamas each had three shots.

"Kurt did an admirable job in PKs, and we couldn't regain the lead after we lost it. This is a team sport, and we win and lose together," Hotchkin continued. "My dad spoke to our team before a game this season, and his message was that forgiveness is needed when you work together. We have to forgive each other, be thankful for what we have, and look to tomorrow. We will regroup and focus on the NCCAA tournament. The guys have the character needed to push on."

The Lancers will regroup for NCCAA qualifying. Grace will likely play at least one match in NCCAA regional play in an attempt to reach a fourth consecutive NCCAA national tournament.