BETHANY, Okla. – No. 2-seed Rogers State men's soccer (10-4-6, 7-1-4 GAC/MIAA) came up short against No. 1-seed Southern Nazarene (12-5-3, 8-2-2 GAC/MIAA) in a 1-0 GAC/MIAA Tournament Championship on Sunday.
 
Matthew Sweetman, George Robinson and Luke Morgan were all named to the All-Tournament team. Declan Viljoen was excellent in goal with four saves on nine shots faced.
 
The opening 45 minutes were a defensive struggle for both sides. RSU managed to outshoot SNU 7-5 in the period, but the Crimson Storm were able to get three shots on target compared to the Hillcats one. That was the difference as SNU's Bruno Ferreira broke the scoreless tie in the 20th minute, finding the back of the net for the match's lone goal. RSU's best chance to even things in the period came in the 38th minute as Erik Hjertsson fired in a shot that was saved by a SNU defender.
 
In the second half, both defenses cranked up the pressure even more with neither side able to get many offensive chances. Once again, the Hillcats outshot the Storm 6-4 in the period with SNU getting two shots on frame compared to RSU's one. The Hillcats best chance came in the 77th minute as Luke Morgan aimed one at the bottom right corner of the goal only for the SNU keeper to make the save.
 
With the No. 12 spot in the most recent regional rankings, RSU must now wait to see if they have done enough to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is scheduled for Monday evening at 5:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.