WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace College's men's soccer team continued its surge to the top of the Crossroads League standings with a 2-0 win over Huntington on Saturday evening.

The Lancers (6-6-2, 5-2 CL) victory over the Foresters, who were previously perched atop the league table, moves Grace to within a point of first place. They trail Marian and Indiana Wesleyan with two games remaining on the regular season slate.

With just one more point in their remaining two games the Lancers would secure a top-four seed and home match in the first round of the Crossroads League Tournament.

It had been second half magic that had propelled the Lancers in this impressive late season push, but on Saturday Grace grabbed all the momentum with an early strike.

Grace scored just 12 minutes into the game, scoring on their first shot of the contest. The goal came after Maxime Bregeon crossed the ball into the box which tied up a Huntington defender and Joao Pereira took advantage of the momentary lapse and quickly sliced a shot into the net to push the Lancers ahead 1-0.

A few moments later Matteo Conci made a routine save to keep the game even before the Lancers made another push on goal.

 Pereira tried for his second goal of the game but his attempt went wide, but moments later the Lancers would double their lead.

After working the ball deep into the attacking third, Grace expertly passed the ball around the perimeter of the box before Seongwhi Lee lofted a pass toward the net that Kyle Holwerda headed into the upper corner of the goal to give the Lancers the 2-0 lead with 10 minutes left in the opening half.

The Lancers had one last try on net before the half but the shot was saved, sending the game into the intermission with Grace holding a convincing 2-0 lead.

The stat sheet was nearly identical except for the score with Grace holding a narrow lead in shots (4-3) and having one corner kick while Huntington had zero.

As the second half got underway Grace and Huntington traded shots but neither squad found the back of the net.

Daniel Santos Rosa tried to add to the Lancers lead with 32 minutes remaining, but his attempt was fought off by the Huntington keeper.

As the half neared the midpoint Huntington began to control the majority of possession as they tried to chip away at the two-goal deficit.

The Foresters pepper the net with shots, trying nine attempts towards goal in the final 17 minutes of action. Grace's defense held strong though as Conci warded off every shot he faced to record his third-consecutive shutout.

The Lancers will be back in action on Saturday against Goshen. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.