SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Thomas University men's soccer team defeated the SCAD Savannah 2-1 to capture the 2014 Sun Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday. Both Thomas goals were scored by Lyle Gifford who helped the 15th-ranked Night Hawks improve to 15-2-3 on the year.
SCAD jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in 17th minute when Taylor Katsanis connected with Alex Jamroz for his third goal of the year.
The Night Hawks answered with an equalizer in the 43rd minute when Severin Abt threaded the needle with a perfectly placed pass between two SCAD defenders that connected with Gifford. Gifford blasted the shot to the near post from the left side of the 18-yard box to tie the score at 1-1 at the half.
Second half action saw a defensive stance by both teams plotting out their strategy for execution with each possession. In the 80th minute, SCAD's Tom Rouine received a red card for a hard foul against Eric Persson inside the penalty area. Gifford lined the shot up and planted it firmly in the back of the net to give the Night Hawks the 2-1 win.
Saturday’s win grants Thomas an automatic bid to the 2014 NAIA Men's Soccer National Tournament. The Night Hawks will learn their National Championship Opening Round opponent following the NAIA selection show on Monday at 2 p.m. All 15 Opening Round games will be played on Saturday, Nov. 22 at various campus sites around the country.