The Cougars, who are making their first-ever appearance in the NAIA National Championship, are currently 15-3-2 overall and ranked No. 7 in the final NAIA poll. MVNU, which had never cracked the Top 25 prior to this season, finished second in the American Mideast Conference regular-season standings with an 8-1-2 mark and then dropped a hard-fought 2-1 decision at NAIA No. 2 Notre Dame College, the AMC regular-season champion, last Saturday in the AMC Tournament championship match as the team’s school-record 10-match winning streak came to an end.

Coming into the season, head coach Paul Furey knew that his team had the potential for big things with eight returning starters and 17 returning players overall. After getting off to a 4-3-2 start to the season with the loss at Bryan (Tenn.) College later being ruled a forfeit victory in favor of the Cougars, MVNU got things clicking on all cylinders starting with a 6-1 win at Shawnee State University.

A weekend trip to New York that resulted in a 1-0 win at Houghton (N.Y.) College and a 3-1 victory at then No. 20 Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) College gave the Cougars the momentum needed to continue what would eventually be a 10-match winning streak. MVNU posted shutouts in four of its next six matches including an important 2-0 conference win at Ohio Dominican University and a convincing 4-0 victory over NCAA Division II No. 20 Ashland University.

Having earned the first NAIA postseason home match in school history by finishing second in the AMC regular-season standings, the Cougars then pulled off the biggest win in the program’s history to date with a 1-0 shutout of then No. 5 Rio Grande in the AMC Tournament semifinals to snap a 19-year winless streak against the Red Storm. That win, coupled with Notre Dame’s semifinal victory, guaranteed MVNU a spot in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.

"This has been a pretty special year for us,” said Furey, who has posted a 220-150-28 record in 19 seasons with the Cougars and led his team to a 4-1-1 record against ranked teams in 2008. "We knew we had some potential to make some noise, but to be honest we may have exceeded some of our initial goals like being ranked. We felt like we could tap into the Top 25, but I’m not sure any of us expected to finish No. 7. Losing only one match in our competitive conference and earning a first round bye in the AMC Tournament was huge. We talked about qualifying for our first NAIA national tournament back in August and we are thrilled that we’ve attained that goal. Hosting an opening round match was never really expected.”

Senior forward Adam Worrall (left) leads MVNU with 20 goals and nine assists in 20 matches and is among the top five in the NAIA with eight game-winning goals. Sophomore forward Rockey Cane has scored seven goals, while freshman forward Chris Allen and junior defender Brady Swanson have added six goals apiece. Junior midfielders Chris Mast and Scott Spangler have each registered six assists and 14 different players have combined to score the team’s 54 goals. Defensively, junior goalkeeper Alex Stout has posted a school-record 11 shutouts and allowed just 13 goals for a 0.69 goals against average.

"There are many things I really like about this team, but what I really admire has been our consistency and our unified desire,” said Furey. "This is a close group of guys. We don’t have a player who feels like it is his show. It has been a team effort all year long. Our bench and reserve players want it as bad as those who are on the field. A lot can be said about the relationship of cohesiveness and success. Our boys have stuck together and it has earned them this great opportunity to host an NAIA National Championship Opening Round match.”

For the Flames of Lee University, its has been a season of ups and downs from a record stand point, but also a season of perseverance that is now paying big dividends. The team has played a tough schedule that has included an 0-4-1 record against teams in the Top 25 at the time of the match and a 2-2-1 record in five other matches against teams receiving votes. The Flames dropped seven matches this season by one goal including five to ranked or receiving votes teams as their 9-9-2 overall record is very deceiving. They have also battled through injuries and seem to be peaking at just the right time as they have a 3-0-1 mark in their last four matches to win the Southern Stats Athletic Conference Tournament despite being the No. 6 seed.

Lee has also had a lot of balance in its offensive attack with 12 different players scoring at least one goal for a team total of 30 goals. Freshman forward Mark Behan leads the Flames with eight goals and six assists, while senior midfielder Ivan Heredia, freshman midfielder Nick Chase, and sophomore midfielder Nathan Brown have each scored four goals apiece. Sophomore goalkeeper Luidgi Beauzile (right) has been solid in goal with a 1.31 goals against average and three shutouts, and he was named the Most Valuable Player of the SSAC Tournament.

"We were very excited that we won the SSAC championship match against our arch rival, Berry (Ga.) College,” said Lee head coach Henry Moyo, who has now guided the Flames to the NAIA national tournament for the third time in four years and has posted a 94-46-12 mark in seven years with the team. "This team has been working hard at finding a winning formula. We knew that we were very young, but also that we were good. We just did not get the results. However, when we won, we got a lot of confidence.”

"We have played some superb teams and done very well against them,” Moyo continued. "The seven matches we lost by (one) goal could have broken our spirits, but we concentrated on the positives on our team and what made us who we are. Those common goals pushed us further and constantly restored our confidence in each other. That is what took us through the conference and that is what helped us reach our preseason goal to get to the conference championship match. It is quite an honor to enter our third national tournament field in four years. One just has to look at our conference teams and see the battle there. To come through (the conference) is a testimony of the strength of our team and the resolve with which they played.”

Both coaches realize that their teams will need to come ready to play against a talented opponent in order to advance to the next round, which would be a second round match at the NAIA National Championship Final Site - Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, Calif. - starting on December 1.

MVNU's Paul Furey	Lee's Henry Moyo

"Lee has stepped into the national forefront in the NAIA the past four years under Coach Moyo,” said Furey. "They had the NAIA National Player of the Year last year in Ricardo Pierre-Louis and now he is playing down the road for the Columbus Crew. Their record is deceiving. They have played a tough schedule and they came out of a strong conference. They also have national tournament experience. We will have to bring our ‘A-game’ on Saturday if we hope to keep our NAIA national tournament going. It should be a great match.”

"We will face a very strong opponent who has qualified for their first national tournament,” said Moyo. "They have done so on the back of a very solid season and I respect what Coach Furey has done with his team and congratulate them. It will not be an easy match by any means. We will have to be on our best game and be aware of an unknown opponent. We have done quite a bit of research on them, but at the end of the day it’s how we perform against them. They have quite a bit of firepower at midfield and quick players up front. Their defense is very strong, so we have our work cut out for us.”

In addition to the MVNU-Lee match on Saturday, there are 14 other NAIA National Championship Opening Round matches being held at campus sites across the nation. The 15 winners will advance to Fresno Pacific to join the host school in the 16-team single-elimination bracket that gets under way with four matches on December 1. The winner of the MVNU-Lee match will take on the winner of the match between No. 3 seed Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) College (17-1-1) and unseeded King (Tenn.) College (14-5-2). That second round match will be played on December 1 at 4:30 p.m. PST.

Admission to Saturday’s NAIA National Championship Opening Round match is $5 for adults and $2 for students with the gates opening at noon. A limited quantity of souvenir t-shirts will also be available for purchase at the event. For more information on this event, please contact the MVNU athletic department at (740) 392-6868 ext. 3100.