BETHANY, Okla. — Not the ending the Southern Nazarene Men's Soccer Team had hoped for as they fell to No. 4 seed Northeastern State in the GAC/MIAA Conference Tournament semifinals match Friday night at Wes Harmon Field.
The No.1 seed GAC Regular Season Champs were the host school for the tournament which seemed to have given the home field advantage this match. Yet, this was not the case as the No. 4 Riverhawks came in and defeated the Storm 3-0 propelling them into the championship match against the No. 2 seed Fort Hays State Sunday afternoon.
SNU has had the upper hand between the Storm-Riverhawks matchup this season as they have been victorious over Northeastern State twice this season in conference play. The Riverhawks ended this trend Friday evening as they shocked the top seeded Storm with a clean sheet and an automatic entry into the GAC/MIAA Conference Tournament Championship match.
Not only did they battle gusts of wind and a persistent cold front, the Storm also faced a tenacious Riverhawks defense that didn't make things easy that match. Numbers were fairly even between the two as both squads landed seven shots on goal while the Riverhawks managed to grab seven saves to SNU's four. Of those seven shots, three resulted in a Riverhawks score that led them to the ultimate victory over the No. 1 Storm.
Northeastern set the tone just past the 21st minute as they pushed ahead of the Storm and punched one in to start the match off at 1-0. Action was stagnant thereafter as the score remained going into the half.
The Riverhawks picked up where they left off coming into the second period and flooded the the Storm with a dominant offensive fleet as they struck another one in just 54 seconds in. Northeastern State was not finished as they found a gap up the field just two minutes after and struck the far right side of the net extending their lead to 3-0.
SNU struggled to spark any energy in the midst of the dominant Riverhawks squad. They managed to keep the Riverhawks at bay the remainder of the half, but they were unable to overcome the three-point deficit as their offensive efforts saw no success. The 90 minute marker had been met and the Riverhawks upset the Storm in clean sheet fashion sending them into the final match with the No. 2 Tigers from Fort Hays State.
GAC/MIAA Newcomer of the Year Daniel Trojman led the offensive front for the Storm with his six shots and three shots on goal that night. GAC/MIAA Midfielder of the Year Angel Lopez, and teammates Harei Maeda, Eric Romero, and Alessandro Alfaro each landed one shot on goal for SNU.
In goal, Ramiro Diez grabbed four saves for the Storm.
The Storm had an unforgettable journey filled with many record-breaking matches and historic achievements. The Regular Season Conference Champs accomplished the best record since joining Division II, the best record overall since the 2008 season, and had 12 members receive GAC/MIAA honors. Coach of the Year, Trevor Harmon, coached a top-tier team that represented SNU well and will definitely look to build off of this successful season.
