The Vikings got on the board in the 27th minute when Jorg Bergmann was dragged down by Reinhardt goalkeeper Corey Grimes, resulting in a penalty kick for the Vikings. Teja Barkmann stepped to the spot and converted to give Berry a 1-0 lead.

 

Berry doubled the lead five minutes later when Sourosh Amani volleyed home a low cross from Ben Popple that hit Grimes, but still slipped into the net to make it 2-0. The Vikings added a third goal in the first half when Luis Salazar received a ball inside the six-yard area and turned and fired the ball in at the near post for a 3-0 lead.

 

Despite the early lead, Berry nearly trailed early in the match. Reinhardt's leading-scorer, Spencer Davidson, unleashed a hard shot that forced a diving save out of Berry goalkeeper Mike Wentzler. Wentzler had three saves in the game and all were tough, diving efforts. Wentzler was named SSAC Player of the Year at the banquet that followed the matches.

 

The Vikings had an efficient day shooting the ball, as 10 of Berry's 17 total shots were on goal and six went for goals. Conversely, Reinhardt managed just nine shots and only three were on goal.

 

Berry continued to score in the second half, as Igor Maas netted his first goal of the season just three minutes after half time. Teja Barkmann initiated the play with a pass into Salazar, who back-heeled the ball to Maas, who was then one-on-one against Grimes and finished to the far post.

 

Six different players scored in the match for Berry. Freshman Chris Capati had the fifth goal on an assist from Amani. Then Jorg Bergmann ended the game with a goal just 11-seconds from full-time on an assist from Sean McCarron.

 

The top-seeded Vikings will advance to the SSAC Tournament Championship match tomorrow at 2:30 against No. 3-seed Lee. The Flames survived 2-1 in overtime against No. 2-seed Auburn-Montgomery in Friday's other semifinal. That match featured eight yellow cards and three red cards, including on to defender Nick Odeny, who will not be allowed to play in tomorrow's championship-match.