On a perfect November night under the lights and in front of over 550 fans at the new Cougar Soccer Complex, the Spring Arbor University women's soccer team capped off a great conference season by capturing their second consecutive MCC title with a 3-0 win over Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

The Cougars roared out of the gate after the opening whistle, creating several dangerous opportunities to score over the opening ten minutes of play.  Denied by the post twice in the first ten minutes, the Cougars finally broke through in the 13th minute when Courtney Harrison got on the end of a cross from Maegan Smith to notch the game winner.  The tally was Harrison's third of the season.  In spite of several open looks and another ball off the crossbar in the final 32 minutes of the half, Spring Arbor was not able to put another ball behind the MVNU goalkeeper before the halftime break.  Spring Arbor out-shot MVNU 19-3 in the opening frame.

The second half saw Mount Vernon turn up their pressure and physical play, but the visitor's aggressive play allowed some openings in their defense, and SAU was able to capitalize early in the half when senior Alyssa Curtis snapped home a header off a service from junior Megan Wegener to make the score 2-0.  Wegener finished the scoring herself, taking a cross from Smith and pounding it past MVNU's keeper in the 74th minute.

Spring Arbor owned the stat sheet, out-shooting Mount Vernon 30-9 on the evening and launching nine corners to just one from the visitors.  Brooklyn Morgan picked up four saves in the shutout win for the Cougars.

"I am very proud of the players for grinding this one out," commented SAU head coach Jason Crist.  "We created so many chances in the first half that when we only capitalized on one I was a little concerned.  Sometimes things like that come back to haunt you.  The players answered the bell in the second half however, and I couldn't be more proud of them. "

Spring Arbor moves to 18-2-1 on the season while MVNU finishes at 11-7-2.  The Cougars will await the release of the final MRPI rating from the NAIA national office and the official bracket for the NAIA National Championships.  32 teams will compete at 16 Opening Round sites nation-wide on November 19th, with the winners traveling to the final site, Decatur, AL the following week.

Spring Arbor was seeded #9 in the 32 team field and will face off with unseeded Siena Heights (MI) on Saturday.  The match will kick off at 6:00 p.m. in the new Cougar Soccer Complex.  Tickets will be $7.00 for general admission, $5.00 for senior citizens, $3.00 for students.  SAU students, faculty and staff will receive complimentary admission with a valid SAU ID.