The Lancaster Bible men's soccer team saw its terrific end-of-the-season run end on Sunday afternoon in the North Eastern Athletic Conference Final as top-seeded Morrisville State showed why they have been the conference's best team all season as the Mustangs defeated the Chargers, 2-0. With the victory, Morrisville State will earn the NEAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament and will find out their first round opponent on Monday afternoon.

Lancaster Bible (12-6-1) meanwhile will take part in the NCCAA Division I East Region Playoffs against an opponent to be determined on Monday. The Chargers will play either Houghton or Roberts Wesleyan depending on how each team's Longo Rating reads. (Longo takes into account each team a school has played throughout the season and what the result of the game was. Teams then accumulate points based upon wins and losses.)

In Sunday's NEAC Final, Morrisville State controlled possession for much of the beginning of the game, but could not any shots past Lancaster Bible goalkeeper Andrew Kofstad. The Mustangs had a great chance midway through the first half when off a corner kick the ball sat in the box for alone and one the Mustangs collected the ball and hit the crossbar. Finally, at the 27:22 mark, Jamieson McKoy scored his 11th goal of the year to give Morrisville State a 1-0 lead.

Lancaster Bible began to control the ball a bit more after the Morrisville State goal, but were held to just two shots in the opening 45 minutes. 

Play opened up a bit more in the second half as 18 total shots were taken, seven for the Chargers, 11 for the Mustangs, but the score remained 1-0 until Jacob Chase scored his third goal of the season to provide the Mustangs with some insurance. The Chargers had a few chances, but nothing substantial as the Morrisville State defense showed why they have given up just 11 goals this season and not a single goal since October 4. 

"We played hard, but not with the sharpness that we normally have had lately," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Tom Ardt said. "Part of that was due to Morrisville State's high pressure and the tempo that they play."

Morrisville State (16-2) has not lost since September 13 and outshot the Chargers, 27-9 on Sunday and held an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks. 

Ardt said he thinks the Mustangs will do well at the NCAA Division III National Tournament. 

"They are a solid team all around and in all three areas of the field," Ardt said. "Best of luck to them as they move on to the NCAA Tournament."

Ardt said he thought the Chargers could have upped their pressure a bit more and tried to dictate more of the play.

"We didn't have enough attacking movement and didn't quite make them as uncomfortable with our pressure defensively," Ardt said. "It's time for us to get back to work and gear up for next weekend's NCCAA matchup."

Sunday marked the fourth time in 2014 that a Lancaster Bible team played in the NEAC Final and unfortunately, it was the fourth loss this season for the Chargers in the NEAC Final. The men's and women's basketball teams each lost in the NEAC Final on March 2, 2014 and the men's volleyball team lost in the NEAC Final on April 12, 2014. The men's basketball team also lost to Morrisville State in the NEAC Final.

Lancaster Bible's loss on Sunday was its first October 11 and snapped a five-game winning streak. The five-game winning streak was the longest for the Chargers since 2010. 

The Chargers will look to start a new streak beginning with an opponent and date to be determined in the NCCAA Division I East Region Playoffs.