ST. LOUIS— [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist men's soccer is headed to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round for the first time in school history. The Spartans knocked off Lyon College (Ark.) 2-1 in overtime on Friday afternoon at Spartan Field in the AMC Championship game. Freshman Jona Oesterling netted the game-winner with 6:33 remaining in the first golden goal extra period.
 
On a bitterly cold Friday afternoon at Spartan Field, the early portion of Friday's championship played out with both hesitant to blink first. The teams traded chances with neither side seriously threatening the opposing goal.
 
As the clock ticked down toward the final 10 minutes of the opening half, the breakthrough finally arrived for the visiting Scots. A cross into the box fell to the feet of Lyon freshman Marcos Fernandez, who managed to put a shot towards goal. The ball deflected off an MBU defender and trickled over the line for a 1-0 Lyon lead.
 
The visitors looked prepared to buckle down defensively and protect the lead but that task became significantly more difficult after the events of the final few minutes of the first half. Senior defender Jose Poblete was shown a straight red card for a seemingly innocuous challenge on an MBU player. The Scots would be forced to play with 10 men for the rest of the match.
 
From that point forward, Missouri Baptist enjoyed long stretches of possession in Lyon territory leading to multiple scoring opportunities. It seemed as though it was only a matter of time before they found the equalizer and that moment eventually came with 26 minutes left in the second half.
 
MBU forward Nick Johnson was taken down in the Scots penalty area and the referee immediately pointed to the PK spot. Sophomore defender Tommy Struckman stepped up to take the penalty and made no mistake, ricocheting the ball off the post and in to tie the game at one.
 
The match took another dramatic twist not even two minutes after Struckman's equalizer. Off a Lyon free kick in Spartan territory, a Scots player was pushed in the back by an MBU defender inside the box. The referee again pointed to the spot, this time giving Lyon a chance to retake the lead. The Scots' Rafael Santos attempted the penalty but goalkeeper MBU Davide Bucarelli made a diving stop to maintain the tie.
 
After 20 more scoreless minutes, the match continued into a 10 minute golden goal overtime. Missouri Baptist continued to put the pressure on the shorthanded Scots and with just under seven minutes to go, the championship moment finally arrived for the home side.
 
Bucarelli played a long goal kick to midfield where Easton Jaromin got a touch to move it to Brandon Boos. Boos then continued it forward with a ball over the top of the Lyon backline. Jona Oesterling won a footrace with a defender and delivered a perfectly placed strike just out of the reach of Lyon keeper Vicente Alamos. The freshman ripped off his jersey as his teammates mobbed him by the corner flag. Spartan men's soccer claimed its first AMC title since 2003 and locked up the program's first ever bid to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
 
"These guys have been fighting for this all year," said MBU Head Coach Jake Alvernia. "I'm so proud of this team. This was all them."
 
For Oesterling, it was the freshman's third goal of the year and second overtime winner. The German scored in similar fashion on October 24 against Park.
 
The final shots on goal count was 7-6 in favor of Lyon. Davide Bucarelli made six saves for the Spartans to earn his 14^th win of the season. The sophomore has played every minute of every game this season and was rewarded postgame with a First Team All-Conference selection. Senior defender Jordan Lovell was also recognized with First Team All-AMC honors.
 
The Spartans (14-4-3) will now wait for the announcement of the Opening Round pairings on Monday, November 12 at 12 pm central. The bracket reveal will be live on the 'Play NAIA' Facebook page. For all the latest on Missouri Baptist men's and women's soccer's trip to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, keep an eye on MBUSpartans.com and follow @MBUAthletics on twitter and facebook and @MBU_Athletics on Instagram.