Grayson, KY - The Men's Soccer team went on the road to Grayson, Kentucky, in search of a great start to the 2025 campaign, which is exactly what they did. Grace would first face former regional opponent, Campbellsville-Harrodsburg, in a clash under the lights. With both teams ready in an energized environment, the match started at a blistering pace. It did not take long for the Tigers to get on the scoreboard when freshman Paul Ureel made a great play and put one cleverly past the Pioneers keeper just 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the match. With much pressure and several opportunities, the score would remain the same at the half.
"I felt we did a really good job of coming out strong," stated Coach Buchanan. "We could have been a little better on our finishing as we left a number of chances out there in the first half. We saw some simple adjustments we could make and the boys made good on those chances that we missed in the first."
The second half started with a goal in just 2 minutes and 42 seconds, extending the lead to 2, scored by senior Nathan Davis who slotted a ball home from a great pass by freshman Ben Pollock. Pollock would then score the third goal for the Tigers after a bit of brilliance beating the CUH defense and finding the corner past the CUH Keeper. As Grace continue to pour on the pressure, they would score a fourth goal when freshman Logan Beauregard took a great strike drilling it into the bottom corner. The final and fifth goal of the match was capped off in style by freshman Corbin Russell. After taking a ball from senior Jacob Bouma, Russell turned and hit a supreme half volley from distance leaving the CUH keeper with no chance. Sophomore Aidan Gansert earned his first shutout playing past 65 minutes but was aided by freshman keeper Hamilton Morgan who made one outstanding save at the very end of the match. 26 Tigers saw action as they out shot the Pioneers 18 to 4 with a 5-0 victory.
Saturday night would see the Tigers match up with Kentucky Christian University. The match would be played with temperatures of 90 degrees and on turf temperature around 108 degrees. The match started with a pretty intense push from the hosts Knights. "We knew Coach Miller of KCU would have his side well prepared and come out strong being at home. I thought we settled the game well and started to find a lot of chances. We had a great traveling crowd there as well which was a great boost. The biggest issue was, and credit to the KCU keeper, we were not converting the chances until we broke through with a great bit of play from Ryan and Elijah combining for a solid goal," said Coach Buchanan.
Senior Ryan Cronkright played a tricky pass to sophomore Elijah Berghoef who beat a KCU defender and then slotted the ball home with class in the 33rd minute. Grace would fire right back with Nathan Davis striking home a great layoff, once again Cronkright. Grace took the 2-0 lead into half. Davis would get a brace scoring the final goal of the match on a beautiful ball played from freshman Jacobo Ariza which he finished with quality. Grace out shot the Knights 19-8 in the match requiring just 2 saves from Gansert who earned his second clean sheet in as many games.
Grace will now prep for their next match at home on Velting Field this Friday at 1pm versus Ohio Christian University.
