WINONA LAKE, Ind. – With 16 minutes left in the Crossroads League opener, Grace's men's soccer team faced a 2-0 deficit against Huntington.

Cue Grace's junior forward Marcelo Talamas.

Talamas made 1st Source Bank Field his stage on Wednesday night, scoring twice in the final frenzied minutes to produce a 2-2 draw with Huntington.

The Lancers (6-1-2, 0-0-1 CL) seemed to improve as the game went on, recovering from a pair of first half goals scored by the Foresters (6-2-2, 0-0-1 CL).

The match was full of drama from the opening minutes until the final horn after two overtimes. Each team settled into its style, with Huntington allowing Grace to hold possession and poising for a counterattack. The strategy worked to perfection in the first half.

The Lancers moved the ball freely until the midfield stripe, but the Foresters' defense made life hard in the final half of the field.

Huntington's goal was living a charmed life for much of the opening half. In the 12th minute, Felipe Gruber advanced on the left side of the field. He found Talamas in space, but Talamas's shot hit the left goal post.

The rebound fell to Jordan Jayapuram, but his shot clanged off the crossbar seconds later.

Minutes after that, Grace nearly scored again. The Lancers had a quick buildup as Henrique Cerruti and Talamas connected to reach the penalty box. Talamas made a quick pass to Cody Boerema, but his one-time shot was saved.

With 10 minutes left in the half, the Foresters stunned the home team. Huntington lofted a cross to the far post. Grace failed to deal with the relatively simple cross, allowing Huntington to score from point-blank range.

The Foresters doubled their lead five minutes later. Huntington earned a free kick and crossed high into the box. Jake Erlandson headed the ball low past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

Grace entered halftime behind 2-0 despite holding a 7-6 advantage in shots.

Huntington dropped its defensive line even deeper in the second half. The Lancers were strong in possession, but Grace struggled to puncture through Huntington's backline. 

The match increased in physicality as the second half wore on; the teams combined for just one shot for the first 20 minutes of the half. During that same stretch, 12 fouls were called.

Grace did not record a shot attempt for the first 20 minutes of the second half.

The breakthrough finally came for Grace with 15 minutes remaining. Jayapuram passed ahead to Ulisses Miranda, who cleverly let the ball roll between his legs to an open Jonny Mora.

Mora dribbled cleanly to the penalty box and then crossed to the far post toward Talamas; Talamas rose up and headed his shot to the near post to beat the goalkeeper.

Grace seemed destined to find an equalizer as the second half continued, but the Foresters still held a 2-1 lead with just over three minutes left on the clock.

Ethan Koselak made a leading pass to Miranda, and Miranda alertly connected with Talamas inside the box. 

Talamas took the immediate attention of four Forester defenders, but that did not matter. He cut twice in the box and found a sliver of space between the four defenders, and his shot whizzed above the goalkeeper and beneath the crossbar to tie the score.

Talamas sprinted across the field and slid in celebration in front of the jubilant student crowd at 1st Source Bank Field.

The game went into overtime, where Grace continued to be the aggressor. For the final 23 minutes of play, the Lancers owned a 8-2 advantage in shots.

But neither team could find a golden goal winner in overtime, and the squads shared the point in the draw.

Talamas shot 10 times for Grace, nearly equaling the entire total for the Foresters (12 shots). 

Boerema and Miranda each tried three shots, and Gruber shot twice.

The Lancers are back home on Saturday with a 7 p.m. match against Goshen.