WINONA LAKE – Grace’s women’s soccer team outshot Calumet College of St. Joseph’s 18-3 on Saturday, but only one shot made the difference.

A hard blast from Carianne Sobey in the 84th minute gave Grace a 2-1 victory over the Crimson Wave (1-1) on Saturday night in the 2014 season opener for the Lady Lancers at Miller Field.

Grace had boundless scoring opportunities in the match, including a quick first goal from Grace’s Mallory Rondeau. The speedy forward latched onto a well-placed pass from Holly Bennett and beat the goalkeeper with a goal just 99 seconds into the match.

The ensuing 10 minutes featured a barrage on the Crimson Wave’s goal, but only Rondeau’s shot found the back of the net. Darcy Johnston nearly scored twice, and Bennett nearly added a goal of her own during the opening minutes of the match.

Grace held CCSJ to one shot before halftime and maintained control of possession throughout the first 45 minutes.

Early into the second period, Grace had back-to-back one-on-one situations with CCSJ’s goalkeeper but came up empty both times. Meredith Hollar had the first chance, but the Crimson Wave’s defense recovered in the final instance for force a wide shot. Rondeau then nearly scored again when her hard shot clanged off the crossbar.

The game winner came in the 84th minute from Sobey. After a nifty step on the ball to beat one defender, Sobey unleashed a hard attempt from near the endlne that won the match for Grace. The Lady Lancers continued to pressure for an insurance goal in the final minutes, but the Crimson Wave held firm to keep the score 2-1.

“The women put in a dominating team performance this evening. We met nearly all of our team objectives for this match to conclude our three weeks of training camp,” said Grace head coach Michael Voss. “Calumet was organized and had a good defensive strategy. Our women have become more and more unified each day. I really enjoy this team, and I am excited to see us develop as one systematic unit.”

The Lady Lancers had an 18-3 shot advantage and were called offside eight times in the match. Grace will refocus for next weekend’s home tournament which features No. 16 Olivet Nazarene on Friday night and No. 22 John Brown on Saturday.