MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A Gulf South Conference Tournament Championship trophy is coming to Mobile for the first-time ever. After a perfect run through the GSC regular season, Spring Hill College defeated second-seed University of West Florida, 3-2, on Sunday, Nov. 4 to claim the GSC Men's Soccer Tournament Championship at Emory Fulmar YMCA Complex.
Spring Hill, in its first year eligible for NCAA Division II postseason, becomes the eighth different Gulf South Conference member to win the men's soccer tournament, while West Florida was seeking its 10th GSC Tournament title and first since 2013
The Badgers took a 2-0 lead in the second half, but it was a penalty kick in the 86th minute which proved to be the game-winner. Alex Lipinski converted the PK for his 18th goal of the season after UWF cut Spring Hill's lead in half in the 58th minute. The goal from Andrew Wentz deflected off a Badgers' defender to put the Argos on the board.
With less than three minutes to play, Kameron Bethell netted a goal to pull West Florida within one, 3-2, but the Badgers held off any late efforts by the Argos, including a UWF corner kick with 40 seconds to play.
Lipinski, who was named Tournament MVP, opened Spring Hill's scoring in the 8th minute. The Badgers went on attack early, as Cyril Giraud and Jack LaForge each had shots blocked following Lipinski's goal. Lipinski later played a ball into the box to Matthew Moreno for his sixth goal of the season in the 34th minute.
SHC goalkeeper Barou Ndaw collected his only two saves of the championship in the first half. Jacob Murray had one save for the Argos, coming in the second half.
The win is the Badgers' 14th-straight and 10th one-goal win of the season.
"First off, UWF is a fantastic team with a great coach," said Coach Steve Wieczorek. "It's a provilege to be part of such an amazing game that went down to the last kick. That being said, the guys deserved to be champions today. They proved it for 90 minutes and over and over again during the season with one brilliant performance after another. We are delighted to add another first to this amazing season: The NCAA tournament."
Spring Hill College (17-1) advances to the NCAA Division II National Tournament with the GSC's automatic bid.
The NCAA Division II men's soccer selection show will be Monday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. CT on NCAA.com to determine the pairings for the 38-team tournament's eight regions. Regional brackets will be used for the first two rounds of the tournament, Nov. 8-11. After third round and quarterfinal pairings Nov. 15-18, the semifinals and championship will be played during the NCAA Division II Fall Festival, Nov. 29 and Dec. 1 at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Badgers entered the week ranked No. 12 nationally and No. 2 in the South Region behind Palm Beach Atlantic (19-1), which won the Sunshine State Conference Tournament on Nov. 4.
