Governors State Claims Men's Soccer Tournament Crown For First Time

CROWN POINT, Ind. --- A pair of goals in the closing 11 minutes of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament championship match by Governors State University's Flavio Di Palma enabled the Jaguars to claim their first tourney title with a 2-0 victory over Trinity Christian College on Thursday afternoon.  The win also punches GSU's ticket to its third NAIA National Tournament Opening Round appearance.

Coming into the match, Di Palma, primarily a defender, had scored just one time on the season.  His first one Thursday broke a 0-0 deadlock in the 79th minute with his second goal following at 85:55.

No. 3-seeded Trinity Christian (15-6) was the more aggressive team offensively from start to finish.  The Trolls outshot the top seed 21-12 for the match, including 13-5 in the closing 45 minutes.  Trinity Christian also doubled up on the hosts, 12-6, in shots on target.

Governors State goalkeeper Marcal Salom Chandre, however, was up to the task.  He authored 12 saves on the day, including eight after the break, to produce his seventh clean sheet of the season.

The Jaguars (15-2-4) will now take their seven-match winning streak and 15-game unbeaten streak to the NAIA Opening Round, which takes place next weekend, Nov. 21-23, at one of multiple sites.  GSU finds out its location on Saturday.

The complete tournament results follow:

Thursday, November 7 - First Round
• Match #1: No. 1 Governors State 2, No. 8 Indiana Northwest 0
• Match #2: No. 5 Olivet Nazarene 1, No. 4 Viterbo 0
• Match #3: No. 7 Holy Cross 1, No. 2 Judson 0
• Match #4: No. 3 Trinity Christian 2, No. 6 Saint Xavier 1 --- OT

Monday, November 11 - Semifinal Round
• Match #5: No. 1 Governors State 2, No. 5 Olivet Nazarene 1
• Match #6: Trinity Christian 1, No. 7 Holy Cross 0

Thursday, November 14 – Championship
• Match #7: No. 1 Governors State 2, No. 3 Trinity Christian 0