THOMASVILLE, Ga.—The Southeastern University men’s soccer team had to endure 200 minutes of play and a shootout to win its first conference title since 2015.
In the championship match, the Fire got a goal from sophomore Noah Richmond in the 31st minute and made it stand to beat Thomas, 1-0.
The goal was Richmond’s first of his career.
Ben-Avir Espinal sent a ball across the box which was headed in by Richmond for the game’s only tally.
Southeastern had to withstand 60 minutes of pressure from the Night Hawks, which outshot SEU 15-10. The Fire has just three shots on goal.
“We’ve all played a lot of minutes this week, we thought we could step our pressure up a bit and take a risk with our guys in the back,” said coach Clay Roberts. “Logan Whitney played fantastic, he owned the box, which was exactly what we needed him to do and came up with a big save at the end.”
Additionally, Thomas had four of its six corner kicks in the second half with the Fire defense holding back the Night Hawks on the set pieces.
The Fire have earned an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round next Saturday. Pairings will be announced on Monday.
IRISH RETURN HOME SEEKING FIRST BIG TEN VICTORY AGAINST OHIO STATE
By John Fineran WHO: Ohio State Buckeyes (7-12-1 overall, 3-7-0 Big Ten for 9 points) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-17-1 overall, 0-12-0 Big Ten for 1 point). WHEN: Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m. WHERE: Charles W. “Lefty” Smith Rink at the...