HUNTINGTON, Ind. – Two early goals was all the Spring Arbor University men's soccer team needed to put away Huntington University in the regular season finale on Wednesday afternoon, as the No. 9 ranked Cougars defeated the Foresters 2-1 to clinch their third consecutive Crossroads League regular season championship.

With the win, Spring Arbor has secured the No. 1 seed and home field advantage throughout the upcoming Crossroads League Tournament, which is set to begin on Saturday, Nov. 2.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: No. 9 Spring Arbor 2, Huntington 1

LOCATION: King Stadium | Huntington, Ind.

RECORDS: Spring Arbor 13-1-2 (8-0-1 CL), Huntington 12-4-2 (6-2-1 CL)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Spring Arbor put the pressure on right away with a scoring chance from Zoltan Suranyi in the fourth minute, but a great save by Huntington's goalkeeper kept SAU off the scoreboard.
• The Cougars struck less than a minute later, however. A corner kick from Michael Procopio found Alex Sokalski at the back post. Sokalski's header bounced off the post and landed at the feet of Cole Russell, who tapped it in.
• Suranyi had another chance in the ninth minute and this time would not be denied, beating the keeper with a low shot to the far post to double the SAU lead.
• Huntington cut the deficit in half in the closing moments of the first half on a header by Luke Unger.
• The Foresters looked desperately for an equalizer over the final 45 minutes, but Christopher Banfi and the Cougar defense came up with several big stops to preserve the lead.
• Huntington outshot SAU 18-13, including 10-4 in the second half.
• Banfi finished the match with seven saves.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Spring Arbor avenged a loss to Huntington in last year's Crossroads League Tournament Championship, and moved to 12-3-1 against the Foresters since 2006.
• Since winning their first regular season championship in 2017, the Cougars are 25-1-1 in conference play over the last three seasons.
• Russell's goal was his 15th of the season, which ranks second in league.

UP NEXT

The Crossroads League Tournament is set to begin with the quarterfinal round on Saturday, Nov. 2. Spring Arbor has earned the No. 1-seed for the tournament and will host No. 8-seed Taylor University (6-9-3, 2-6-1 CL) in its first matchup.

STAY CONNECTED: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
DOWNLOAD OUR APPS: iOS (iPhone/iPad) | Android