MOUNT BERRY, Ga. -- Ivan Heredia's 14th minute goal stood up as the match-winner as No. 6-seed Lee won the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament 1-0 over No. 4-seed Berry Sat. at Ford Field. Berry finishes the season 12-6-1, while Lee advances to the NAIA National Tournament with a 9-9-2 record.

Heredia scored at the 13:13 mark after intercepting a pass in the Flames' defensive third. He then beat a pair of defenders and streaked forward through the midfield. Approximately 35 yards from goal the Mexican midfielder unleashed a shot that flew into the top left corner of the goal to give Lee a 1-0 lead.

 

The Vikings responded to being scored on with intense pressure on the offensive end, recording six shots within a four-minute-span following the goal. However, four of the shots were blocked as Berry had 20-9 edge in shots for the match, but only five of those shots were on target.

Berry had two solid scoring opportunities in the first half. Jorg Bergmann struck a free kick on goal, but was denied by Luidgi Beauzile. Beauzile had four saves and was named the tournament MVP.

In the 18th minute, Berry did manage to beat Beauzile, when Shane Moroney fired a shot that was headed for the back of the net. However, Lee defender Chris Hennessey made a sliding effort to stop the ball just on the line.

In the second half Lee was content to sit on the one-goal lead and played with 11 players behind the ball for a majority of the half. However, the counter-attacking style paid off for the Flames, which created the two best scoring chances of the half.

Nick Chase missed a chance to double the Lee lead after Nathan Brown had slipped a pass in behind the defense and sent Chase one-on-one towards the Berry goal. However, the striker fired the ball just to the left of the far post and kept Berry in the match. Similarly, Jeremy Loucks was wide left with his volley less than a minute later.