Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.-The Belhaven men's soccer team had its Southern States Athletic Conference tournament run come to an end on Saturday night, losing to Southern Polytechnic State University 3-0 at H.T. Newell Field. The Hornets have had the Blazers number in postseason play, eliminating Belhaven from the SSAC tournament in each of the last three seasons. Both this year and last year, the Blazers scored 1-0 victories over Southern Poly in the regular season only to lose 3-0 in the playoffs.

Southern Poly (12-4-1) broke through for goal number one in the 36th minute when Juan Henao sent a perfect corner kick into Avery Shepard who headed the ball past Belhaven goalie Carl Blundell into the top left corner of the goal to make it a 1-0 game. The score gave the Hornets the momentum and they would keep it for the rest of the night.

Belhaven (14-4-1) battled to create scoring chances in what was a very physical match. The teams combined to commit 38 minutes over course of 90 minutes. The Blazers pressed the Hornets defense and got four shots on goal in the second half, but unfortunately none of them found the back of the net.

In the meantime, Southern Poly added two insurance goals to give themselves some breathing room. The first came in the 59th minute when Emeka Maduka tucked the ball past Blundell off an assist by Omar Kanteh. Three minutes later, Adis Islamovic rocketed a free kick off the head of a Blazer defender sending the ball into the top shelf for goal number three of the night. Southern Poly controlled the match from that point on and cruised to the win.

Belhaven ended up outshooting the Hornets 17-11, including a 14-6 edge in the second half. Southern Poly goalkeeper Dennis Kramer was up to the challenge turning back five Blazers shots at the net. Eduardo Cruz had three shots for the Blazers with two of them being on goal. Omar Kanteh attempted a team high four shots for Southern Poly.

Blundell made three saves, but suffered the loss in goal for Belhaven while Kramer claimed the win in net for the Hornets.

The Blazers will now have to wait and see about a possible at large berth in the 2012 NAIA National Championship tournament. The final NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll and MRPI Poll, which determines the tournament seeds and at large bids, will be announced Sunday November 11th. The 32 team field will also be announced by the national office immediately following the release of the MRPI Poll. Belhaven has been to the national tournament in each of the last two seasons finishing in the round of 16 both years.