MARION, Ind. - Grace's women's soccer team gave No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan all it could handle on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Crossroads League Tournament.

The match was tied with 13 minutes remaining, but IWU scored twice late to pull away with a 3-1 victory which ended Grace's season.

The Lancers had six shots in the match, which included one goal and another attempt which hit the goalpost.

The young Lancer squad had six first-year players start with three more coming off the bench.

The Lancers nearly had a dream start on Saturday afternoon. Grace earned the first shot of the match, which came from freshman Rylee Burns. 

Burns tried a shot in the fourth minute which clipped the goalpost.

The rest of the half was largely a possession battle. Grace held IWU to just one shot attempt for the first 30 minutes of the match.

The match remained scoreless until five minutes before halftime; the Wildcats managed to squeeze in a goal just before the break to claim a 1-0 lead.

IWU's lead was short-lived, however. The Lancers found an equalizer less than five minutes into the second half.

Grace scored on a lethal counterattack. Tori Twombly stole a pass from an IWU defender and made a quick pass in the penalty box. Sam Vondersaar received the pass and sliced her shot beyond the goalkeeper to even the match.

Vondersaar tried another shot six minutes later, but her attempt was saved.

The Wildcats had just two shots over the next 27 minutes as Grace largely held IWU's offense in check. 

But IWU eventually found the go-ahead goal with 12 minutes left, and the Wildcats added an insurance goal with 112 seconds to play.

While Grace's season came to an end on Saturday, the Lancers' future looks bright. Grace fielded 12 first-year players this year with eight rookies regularly starting.