Winona Lake, Ind. – The Marian men's soccer team opened up Crossroads League play under the lights at 1st Source Bank Field by dropping a 2-0 decision to No. 8-ranked Grace Saturday night. The Knights move to 3-5-1 overall and start conference play 0-1.

The first half saw a slow start from Marian, not being able to get any shots off while Grace posted eight. The Lancers wasted no time to get their offense rolling, as they posted two shots in the opening 10 minutes of play. The Knights saw a corner kick early in the half, but was unable to find anything from it. With 3:45 left in the first half, Grace found their first goal of the game to give them the 1-0 lead going into the break.

After a quiet first half from Marian, Dylann Merchand tried to rewrite the story as he posted the first shot of the half, but was unable to execute as his shot was high. Grace answered back several minutes later with a shot of their own that would end up in the hands of Brendan Weiger, but seconds later the home team found the back of the net to give them the 2-0 lead. With 30 minutes left, Jack Reynolds tried to respond for Marian by booting one on goal, but the Grace goalie made the save to keep the Knights scoreless. Nate Van Keulen fired off the only other shot for Marian, seeing it go just wide.

Marian could not find an answer for Grace's defensive pressure and aggressive offensive attack, as the Knights were unable to get on the board.

The Knights posted three shots with Van Keulen, Reynolds and Merchand all providing one. Weiger played the full 90 minutes, seeing eight shots on goal and making six saves.

Marian will return home on Wednesday, September 28 to host Spring Arbor. The match is slated to begin at 7 PM.

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