ST. CHARLES, Missouri – Houston Christian University and Lindenwood played to a 1-1 double overtime draw before the top-seeded and host Lions took the Ohio Valley Conference Championship by virtue of a 4-2 edge on penalties at Hunter Stadium on Saturday night.  A truly epic finale saw the two teams leave everything on the pitch, with the Huskies equalizing in the 89th minute to send the game into extra frames before the Lions prevailed in the first-ever penalty shootout in conference tournament history.
 
The two teams battled to a scoreless first half but not without chances. Lindenwood put 10 shots up with just one on target. Sebastia Cerda Tous had two blasts go wide of the pipes and the Lions got their one attempt on goal late in the period with Alex Aitken scooping it up.
 
HCU had four shots in the first half, one on goal coming from D'Alessandro Herrera, whose hearty go from 26 yards out was parried away by LU's Gavin Roberts.
 
The Lions would get the breakthrough in the opening minutes of the second session. Alandar Soares made a strong run down the left side and turned the corner and onto the endline where he threaded a pass to the middle of the six to Luca Bartoni. He would slot it past Aitken for a 1-0 Lindenwood advantage just 2:20 into the frame.
 
HCU got a tremendous chance in the 74th minute when Ben Thirkill's throw-in from deep down the line found Joby Reid on the front post. His header was just knocked away inches from the pipe by Roberts to preserve the lead for the Lions.
 
With just over four minutes to play, the Huskies got another crack at an equalizer. Ian Belong found Joby Reid 10 yards out and his low shot glanced off Roberts hands. The ball trickled right to Ryan Okerayi whose shot was blocked off of Roberts and then smashed away by the LU backline.
 
Down to the final two minutes and pressing hard, the Huskies finally got their due. A ball was served into the area from the right side by Ron Pressler. It found Okerayi, whose header dropped straight down to a streaking Joby Reid, whose shot hit Roberts but trickled right through his mitts and across the line, knotting things up at 1-1.
 
The first overtime session saw both teams getting a good look at a winner. In the 95th minute, Ricardo Garcia had a go from 35 yards out that cleared the top crossbar by mere inches. A moment later, it was Lindenwood's turn, as a cross from the left side from Soares looking for Bartoni in the middle was pounced on by Aitken just inside the six and the two teams headed to a second extra period.
 
That period would go by without a score either, as both defenses were locked in not wanting to allow the golden goal. The game would then move on to penalty kicks.
 
Lindenwood connected on the first penalty attempt, while HCU's Garcia had his first shot double-clank off the left post and all the way across off the right post without crossing the line. The Lions wouldn't look back from there, hitting three straight before Quinn Clossen's save of Okerayi's effort gave them a 4-2 margin and thus the Ohio Valley Conference title.
 
The Lions outshot the Huskies 19-14, but HCU held the edge on target at 7-3 and in corners 7-2. The two teams were whistled for 23 fouls total fouls in the 110 minutes of in a well played, physical match.
 
Ryan Okerayi and Joby Reid each had three shots with Reid connecting on his sixth goal of the season and Okerayi picking up his third assist of the year.
 
Alex Aitken made two saves in his final appearance between the pipes for the Huskies, ending his career as the all-time saves and shutouts leader as well as posting the most victories since the restart of the program in 2006.
 
Lindenwood (14-2-4) was led by Luca Bartoni, who had the Lions lone goal. It came off an assist from Alandar Soares, who led the hosts with six shots, two on goal. Gavin Roberts made six saves through double-overtime before Clossen entered for the penalty shootout as the Lions secured their first-ever OVC title and the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

For their efforts in St. Charles, Alex Aitken, Ryan Okerayi and Joby Reid were each selected to the OVC All-Tournament team.
 
HCU finishes the a remarkable campaign at 11-5-3, recording the most victories in a season since the 1990 team won 14. The Huskies advanced for the second straight year to the Ohio Valley Conference championship match, both of which have gone double-overtime with this being the first in the three years of the OVC to go to penalties.
 
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