Miners gain spot in GLVC Tournament with win over UIndy

Mike McNamee

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- With its playoff fate in its own hands, the University of Missouri-Rolla men's soccer team took care of earning its place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament all by itself.

The Miners came away with a 2-0 victory Sunday afternoon at Indianapolis to put themselves in the GLVC Tournament for the second time in as many years. UMR will go into the tournament as the No. 6 seed and will open play in the eight-team event on Sunday (Oct. 22) on the road against No. 3 seed Wisconsin-Parkside.

The Rangers beat the Miners 3-0 when the teams met in Rolla Sept. 24.

In Sunday's game, the Miners got their first goal on an own goal by the Greyhounds, when a headed ball by a UIndy defender eluded Greyhound goalkeeper Matt Spaulding at the 22:23 mark. UMR added an insurance goal in the second half when Nick Landon tapped in a pass from Justin Lightner at 58:26 to give the Miners a two-goal advantage.

Even though the Greyhounds outshot the Miners 14-12 in the game, the defense was able to keep most of the shots away from UMR goalkeeper Mike McNamee. Only two of the 14 Indianapolis attempts were on goal and McNamee turned both of them away to record his fourth shutout of the season.

UMR, now 9-8-1 overall, finished 7-5-1 in GLVC play to end up in sole possession of sixth place. The Miners will play Friday at Truman State (2 p.m. start) prior to their GLVC Tournament opener at UW-Parkside on Sunday.