WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace College's men's soccer team fell to Mt. Vernon 2-0 on Wednesday night at 1st Source Bank Field.

The game was the Crossroads League opener for both teams and had the intensity of two familiar foes going head-to head.

The Lancers (1-5-2, 0-1-0 CL) were fast out of the gate and nearly took an early lead when Kyle Holwerda chipped the ball over the Cougars keeper. The ball traveled just high though, bouncing off the crossbar and harmlessly out of bounds.

Just moments later the Cougars (4-1-4, 1-0-0 CL) took advantage of a ball that the Lancers were unable to settle in their own end. MVNU's Zach Bowser capitalized on the opportunity and blasted the ball into Grace's net to push the Cougars ahead eight minutes into the contest.

The Lancers were undeterred by the early MVNU mark and continued to press offensively generating a plethora of chances.

Joao Pereira and Juan Garcia each had shots that tested the Cougars keeper, but each time he was up to task.

The Cougars doubled their off of a lightning quick counter attack which was finished off by Bowser for his 10th goal of the year which ranks him third in the NAIA.

Trailing by two goals the Lancers continued to search for their first marker of the game. Grace had a golden opportunity in the waning moments of the half but had a pair of point blank opportunities blocked by sprawling defenders as MVNU carried the 2-0 advantage into halftime.

At the halftime intermission Grace was outshooting MVNU 10-5 and held a 5-0 lead in corner kicks.

Grace carried the pace of play in the second of the game as they desperately searched for an offensive spark.

Gavin Morgan had a pair of shots just seven minutes into the half but each try was snuffed out by MVNU's goalie.

With 30 minutes to go in the game, Garcia had a well hit free kick that knuckled toward the net, but again the Grace opportunity was denied before entering the goal.

Chances piled up for the Lancers across the middle portion of the half as Morgan narrowly sliced a shot wide off of a corner kick opportunity.

Garcia and Holwerda continued the barrage on goal with a flurry of chances but neither player could solve the Cougars' defense as Grace remained scoreless.

Vasco Tavares had Grace's last chance on goal but he too was denied as the Lancers fell 2-0.

Grace dominated the box score, holding decisive advantages in shots (23-9), shots on goal (11-4) corner kicks (12-0) and fouled seven less times than MVNU.

Garcia led Grace with seven shots and Holwerda followed close behind with five. Matteo Conci made two saves in the start.