WINONA LAKE, Ind. – A hard-fought 3-1 victory on the road at Grace College Saturday night moved the Spring Arbor University men's soccer team another step closer to clinching its first-ever Crossroads League regular season title. Janum Sailor delivered what proved to be the game-winning goal for the Cougars in the 67th minute.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: #22 Spring Arbor 3, Grace 1

LOCATION: 1st Source Bank Field | Winona Lake, Ind.

RECORDS: Spring Arbor 13-3-0 (6-1-0 CL), Grace 7-4-4 (4-2-1 CL)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• With first place on the line Saturday evening, Spring Arbor came out of the gates strong and grabbed the lead less than five minutes into the contest. A corner kick from Jacob Crull was eventually finished by Baba Valdmanis for his fourth tally of the season.
• Grace evened the score just before halftime on a penalty kick. Marcelo Talamas was fouled inside the penalty box and Breno Oliveira converted the PK attempt to tie the score at 1-1.
• The Cougars regained the lead midway through the second half. A free kick from Jake Sterling in the 67th minute found Sailor, who put the ball in the back of the net to give SAU the lead for good.
• In the 88th minute, a failed clear attempt resulted in an own goal for Grace, helping seal the victory for Spring Arbor.
• Spring Arbor outshot Grace 14-12 and held a slim 6-5 edge in corner kicks.
• Goalkeeper Isiah Handspike came up big with four saves in the match.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• Spring Arbor earned its second straight win over Grace. The Cougars own a 12-3-1 record over the Lancers since the 2006 season.
• Since joining the Crossroads League in 2004, SAU has never finished first in the final league standings. The Cougars can claim a regular season league title for the first time with a win at Bethel Wednesday night.
• Sterling recorded his second-career multi-assist match with two against the Lancers.
• Sailor notched his second game-winning goal of the season and fourth of his career.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH NATHAN MILLER

• "We were so happy with our performance in the first 25 minutes. We did everything we are about and controlled the ball and moved them all over. We really should have buried it then and there."
• "We were disappointed that we gave them a mental foothold and then lost discipline on the goal."
• "The fight and grit in the second half was fantastic. Again, we haven't reached our potential, which I believe is immense, but not matter what, our team fights for each other for 90 minutes."
• "We will keep a steely focus and we can win the league Wednesday."

UP NEXT

Spring Arbor will travel to Mishawaka, Indiana on Wednesday, Oct. 25 to take on Bethel College () in a key conference matchup. With a win, the Cougars can clinch their first-ever Crossroads League regular season title.

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