ST. LOUIS - No. 2 seed Missouri Baptist University men's soccer defeated No. 4 seed Columbia College 1-0 Tuesday evening to win the AMC Conference Tournament crown for the first time since 2018, thanks to a championship-clinching goal by Ognjen Bozovic.

In their final year in the AMC, the Spartans clinched a tournament championship for the third and final time before joining the Heart of America Athletic Conference in 2025.

"I thought the boys were really good tonight," said head coach Jake Alvernia. "We had good ideas on the ball, and we attacked in that final third a bit more. We had more going forward in this game than we did against Columbia in our first matchup this season. I thought we did a lot of positive things, we battled hard, scored the only goal, and we held on."

With the victory, the Spartans earned an automatic berth in the NAIA National Tournament, with their opening-round matchup to be announced on Sunday.

Bozovic's goal in the 55th minute was the only score by either team and was assisted by Emilio Hernandez. After Bozovic's clinching PK in the semifinals and his championship-winner tonight, his heroics helped propel MBU to its first conference tournament title in six years.

Despite the win, the Cougars outshot the Spartans 19-5, including six shots on goal to MBU's two.

Goalkeeper Pawel Wolny recorded another clean sheet for the Spartans, his second consecutive shutout, allowing just one goal throughout the entire tournament and making five saves tonight.

MBU concludes the conference tournament with a 12-5-4 record and will look to carry its momentum into the national tournament next week.