WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's women's soccer team took down Mt. Vernon Nazarene on Saturday to begin the Crossroads League Tournament.

The Lady Lancers (12-3-2) used goals from Danae Moriarty and Kailey Burrell to win 2-0.

Grace will advance to the semifinals next week, playing at No. 4 Spring Arbor on Wednesday.

The match was plagued by heavy winds, easily topping 40 miles per hour. Those windy conditions had a great effect on play, eliminating most direct attacks.

MVNU took advantage of the wind at their backs to begin the match, keeping Grace pinned back defensively for the first few minutes.

But the Lady Lancers quickly solved the weather, and their possession had full control of the match by 15 minutes into the contest.

Grace's first chance came to Moriarty, who spun off a defender and fired off a shot that was saved.

JJ Aalbue was also heavily involved on offense, posing a constant threat on the sidelines. She consistently beat the outside backs to provide crosses and shots.

Aalbue's best look came in the final 10 minutes. She muscled by a defender and tried a hard left-footed shot from close range that whizzed right of the goal.

Neither team was able to generate a goal before halftime. Grace took the only seven shot attempts of the half with Aalbue trying three of those.

The Lady Lancers' possession only got stronger as the game entered the second half. The Cougars were severely hampered by the wind but also had little time on the ball.

Grace gave MVNU very few chances in Grace's defensive end of the field; the Lady Lancers moved the ball freely and quickly.

Grace's breakthrough moment came 12 minutes into the second half. Ashley VandenBoom possessed the ball, dribbled to create space and passed into a dangerous position. Moriarty made the right run to finish off the goal, scoring for the second time this season against MVNU.

Grace gave the match an early conclusion by scoring an insurance goal. Lea Moessinger created the goal with a strong leading pass. The Cougars failed to deal with the ball, allowing Burrell to advance to goal unguarded. Burrell took advantage of the moment, beating the goalkeeper with a goal to double the Lady Lancers' lead.

The Cougars had little in response and were held without a threatening moment in the half.

Grace finished the game with 19 shots, including seven on goal. Grace also had a 6-1 edge in corner kicks.

Sofia Lerro recorded her third straight shutout in goal for Grace. She was protected well by Luna Gianotti, Erin Crew, Lilli Oberhoff, Lucy Schmitt and Simone Castaneda.