ORANGE CITY, IOWA (KCAU) – After dramatic roads to get to this point, Northwestern and Morningside men’s soccer locked horns for the GPAC tournament championship, as the Red Raiders would prevail with a 2-1 win to claim its first-ever GPAC tournament title and first postseason tournament title since 2007 (NAIA Region III tournament).

Mustangs entered the night looking for revenge after a 3-0 loss to the Red Raiders in the regular season.

After a slew of free kicks and saves, the match would stay scoreless for nearly all of the first half. That changed in the 44th minute as Marco Alessio sent a corner free kick to Gerrard Uamai who’d finish it off with a header for the match’s first goal and a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Both teams traded scores in the second half, as the Red Raiders held on for the 2-1 victory to stake its claim on the GPAC banner.

With the GPAC tourney title, Northwestern secures the conference’s second automatic berth to the opening round of the NAIA National Men’s Soccer National Championship on Nov. 16-18. GPAC regular season champion Briar Cliff earned the conference’s first automatic bid.

The NAIA Selection Show for Men’s Soccer is next Monday, Nov. 13 with the Final Site in Wichita, Kansas from Nov. 27 – Dec. 4 at the Styker Soccer Complex.