MEN’S SOCCER

The 6th-seeded HU men’s soccer team made history Saturday night by bringing home the program’s first ever conference tournament championship by outlasting top-seeded Spring Arbor 2-1 under the lights Saturday night at the Cougar Soccer Complex.

With this win, HU earns the league’s automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament – another first for the Forester soccer program. Opening round of the national tourney is slated for November 17. Lawson and crew will find out Monday at 1:00 p.m. where they will be headed as announced by the NAIA on Facebook Live.

“This group of seniors had a vision to win a conference championship so to see that come to fruition is something special,” said Lawson. “They have had to deal with some gut-wrenching losses over the years so I couldn’t be more proud of them for how they’ve stuck with it and led with such courage and poise.”

Lawson has had to watch his team lose in PKs the last two years in the Crossroads League tournament.

Huntington’s road to the finals started with a 2-1 upset over Bethel after which they knocked off Indiana Wesleyan 3-1 to setup tonight’s finale against the 11th-ranked Cougars.

The W is HU’s first win over SAU since 2010 and allowed this group of seniors to check off another goal as Spring Arbor was the only conference team they hadn’t beaten. The victory is also Huntington’s second win this fall over a national powerhouse as they picked off Madonna, ranked 15th at the time, 3-1 in their season opener.

Tonight’s battle saw the Cougars strike first in the 14th minute but the Foresters were quick with the equalizer. Just three minutes after SAU scored, freshman Ben Arnold found back netting on a ball Guilherme Lins Souza served across the face of the goal.

The goal was the fifth of Arnold’s young career.

“Ben is coming into his own,” noted Lawson. “He impacts the game every time he’s out there. He’s had to adjust to a new position since coming to HU and it’s been exciting to see that unfold over the course of the season.”

Huntington continued to pressure their hosts with another pay-off coming 15 minutes later on a scramble off a corner when Ty Sproat redirected a shot by Arnold for what proved the game-winner. Sproat leads the team in scoring with eight goals. He is one of six Foresters who has scored at least four times this season.

While HU’s 2-1 halftime lead was permanent, the final 45 minutes didn’t come without challenges for Lawson’s crew as SAU upped the ante by generating nine shots after break while holding their visitors shotless.

The Foresters stood their ground with no one making bigger plays than HU keeper Gabe Greenfield who came up with two huge saves in the final 40 seconds to deny the Cougars any sort of heroic finish. The sophomore net minder finished with four saves on the evening to pick up his 11th win of the year.

“Spring Arbor came out as the aggressors in the second half but we made some adjustments to counter their attack,” said Lawson. “At every position, we got the job done. This was a great team effort.

“Our boys don’t care who gets the glory, they just want to win. Tonight was a testament to that.”

The Foresters’ last conference championship was a regular season badge dating back to 1989 during Lawson’s playing days.

Huntington’s record now stands at 11-7-3.