MONTGOMERY-Chris Hennesey's goal off a free kick with 55 seconds left in the match, lifted Lee University to a 2-1 victory over Auburn University at Montgomery in the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Championship match.
With the win, the Flames earn an automatic berth into the NAIA National Tournament which will be held in Fresno, Calif.
The two teams battled to halftime without scoring a goal, but the Senators came out in the second half and began to apply a lot of pressure to the Lee defense. In the 49th minute the Senators took the lead when Christopher Ross passed a ball into the box which two Lee defenders kicked out trying to clear the ball. The final Lee defender headed the ball into the AUM net for an own goal and an AUM 1-0 lead.
Just three minutes later, AUM goalkeeper Kile Kennedy misplayed a ball which Earl Curtis Alcide was able to get a kick on and put it into the empty net to even the score.
That score stayed that way until the final hectic minutes when AUM was called for two fouls right outside the box. The first free kick was saved by Kennedy, but Hennessey's shot was able to get past Kennedy for the final score.
AUM finished the match out shooting the visitors 14-7, but Luidgi Beauzile came up with two big saves to preserve the win.
It is the second consecutive season Lee entered the tournament with a losing record, only to make a run through the tournament to earn the championship and the berth.
Lee moves its record to 9-8-3 overall and the Senators are now 13-4-2. AUM will now wait to see if it will receive an at-large berth to the national tournament.
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