COLUMBIA, Ky. - No.4 ranked Lindsey Wilson men's soccer team (12-3-3) lost 2-0 against Cumberland University (12-4-3) in the Mid-South Conference Championship Final on Friday night.

It was a rough game in which the Blue Raiders were affected by multiple events that made their night harder by the minute. The Phoenix did not propose much on attack throughout the game, but they took the few chances they were able to find and also took advantage of decisions made by the officials.

The game started with LWC gatekeeping the ball and pouncing on Cumberland's box as they were able to obtain two corners in less than 5 minutes of play. Then in the Phoenix's first opportunity, Blue Raider goalkeeper Pablo Costa stopped a low cross, but the rebound fell to an opposition player. He proceeded to shoot at an open goal and the shot went straight to Michael Rempel, who stood right on the goal line and handballed the strike, preventing the goal. The referee gave him a red card and awarded a penalty for Cumberland. Costa showed why he is one of the best keepers in the nation and denied John Azar as he dived the right way keeping the score equal. 

Impressively, Lindsey Wilson kept their same style of play and managed to be the better team for the rest of the half with only 9 outfield players. Teams headed to the locker rooms with the Blue Raiders ahead in shots by 6-3 and even (1-1) in shots on goal. 

LWC started the second half with the same philosophy, attempting vertical play and attacking the spaces they were able to find, even when being a man down. In the 52nd minute another unfavorable event occurred as Lindsey's Facundo Torres attempted to clear a ball near the edge of his own box, but did not get the right contact. The ball landed in front of Philipp Schmidtke, who finished at an empty net as Costa had left his goal attempting to clear the ball.

After that goal the chances of winning were much narrower than before, two minutes later, a red card handed to Sadam Masereka deemed the comeback as almost impossible. In the 64th minute, a near post header by Robbie Lyons ended up in the back of the net, putting the final nail in the coffin on Lindsey's chances. The Blue Raiders continued to push the rest of the game and came close to scoring their first in the 86th minute from a Felix Poschmann free kick that hit the crossbar. 

Lindsey Wilson displayed a great performance despite all the setbacks, judging by the stats they show how the team deserved much more. They outshot the Phoenix by 15-5, 2-3 in shots on target, and had a similar amount of corners with five compared to the opposition's six.

The Blue Raiders will now await for the upcoming NAIA National Championships. The field and host sites will be announced on Monday by the NAIA.