St. Thomas University Bobcats

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - St. Thomas (9-6-2) won The Sun Conference Men's Soccer Championship with a 1-0 victory over Keiser (8-5-4) Friday night at Bobcat Field. With the win the Bobcats earn an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships for the first time since 2010.

It marks the second Sun Conference Men's Soccer tournament championship in school history with the Bobcats' first title coming in 2010.

Roni Luokkamaki scored the game-winning goal in the 51st minute scoring on a rebound off an offensive opportunity created by Kris Wilkinson.  On the game-deciding sequence, Wilkinson dribbled through a group of Seahawk defenders, then sent the ball into the goal mouth where Danny Martinez fired off a shot on goal.  Keiser's goalkeeper Nico Gomez saved the shot by Martinez, but Luokkamaki was in perfect position for the rebound and promptly found the back of the net for the game-winner. 

The Bobcat defense held the Seahawks in check, allowing just one shot on goal as goalkeeper Connor Christie recorded the shutout.  Strong performances on the defensive end by Frank Long, Harry Molyneux, Nico Sobanski, Breno Ertty, Vinicius Carvalho and Santeri Bergman made it an easy night for Christie.  The shutout was the second in as many games in Sun Conference tournament play for Christie and the St. Thomas defense.  

St. Thomas outshot Keiser nine to four with six of the nine shots coming in the second half.  Artur Sharapov and Abraham Bibas each registered two shots with shots also taken by Breno Ertty, Wilkinson, Bergman, Martinez and the game-winner  by Luokkamaki.  Despite not getting a shot off, starting forward Hector Mena was very active on the offensive attack as well.  The Bobcats used four players off the bench with Chris Valdes and Chris Giraldo providing valuable minutes along with Martinez and Bibas. 

St. Thomas was the second seed in The Sun Conference Championship and received a bye in the quarterfinals before disposing of Florida Memorial 3-0 in the semifinals setting up the championship final vs. the fourth seeded Keiser. 

The Bobcats, under the guidance of Head Coach Felix Mats, will now commence preparations for the NAIA National Championships which begin with the Opening Round on Saturday, Nov. 19.  Pairings for the national tournament will be announced on Monday.

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