The Missouri Valley Viking men’s soccer team fell behind early to William Penn and could not gnab the equalizer, falling 1-0 on Wednesday, Nov. 13 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference championship at Volney C Ashford Stadium.

Hugo Cornish converted the Statesman’s first shot of the match into a goal, putting the Vikings on the back foot just two minutes into the contest. William Penn continued applying pressure to Missouri Valley, recording another five shot attempts in the opening half, two of which were off target and three saved by Vikings goalie Cristobal Benitez Delgado. The Vikings attempted to equalize, but all four shots on goal in the second half were saved by Sean Bohan.

The loss is just the second for the Vikings this season, who were unable to repeat the double as conference champions in both the regular season and postseason tournament. They are now 15-2-3 on the year. Missouri Valley had already clinched a spot in the NAIA National Tournament with an undefeated regular season title in the conference. The tournament field will be announced this Saturday, with the first game slated for Nov. 23.