MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - St. Thomas (11-6, 7-2 TSC) came up one goal short of beating No. 17 Southeastern 15-4, 8-1 TSC) in The Sun Conference Championship.  The Fire held a two-point lead before a Kris Wilkinson goal midway through the second half restored the Bobcats' hopes.  Ultimately, St. Thomas could not find the equalizer, dropping the contest by the score of 2-1.  Wilkinson, Delano Coelho and Victor Cortez were named to the TSC Championship All-Tournament team.

Southeastern capitalized 12 minutes into the first.  Jake Van Der Luit managed to beat the Bobcat defense on a fastbreak and then shook free of keeper Deljan Bregasi to finish from 12 yards out.  The Fire would take the 1-0 lead into halftime.

Van Der Luit would cap off what is likely to be a golden boot performance with his second goal of the evening in the 49th minute.  He gathered a cross from Gerritson Craane and shot the ball past the hands of Bregasi.

A little over a minute later, Wilkinson would counter with a shot from the top of the box.  The Bobcats took six more stabs at the net, but the shots were missing the level of accuracy needed to beat TSC Freshman of the year, keeper Jorge Navarrete.

Despite the disappointing outcome, St. Thomas has much to be proud of on this day.  Coach Felix Mats has been at the forefront of a significant turnaround this season.  A team that finished 3-15 last year, they have improved tremendously which is evident in the wins-losses column.  

Even more encouraging is the fact that the team returns the majority of its roster, losing only two starters and five players overall.  The foundation of the team, it's defensive backline consisting of Fabian Heinrich, Coelho, and Marc Heineking, returns for their senior year.  The team also returns its top two goal scorers, Heinrich and Wilkinson.

Even with today's defeat, there still remains an outside chance that St. Thomas receives an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament.  Once the selection process has played out, any news and updates concerning the team will be provided here at stubobcats.com.