CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The MEC Tournament Championship game was a matchup of the three seed Notre Dame College and the top seed University of Charleston, on Sunday afternoon. UC put two goals on the board in the first 15 minutes of the contest, but Notre Dame adjusted and got one back when Ailton Fagner Silva scored early in the second half. Charleston fended off a tough NDC attack in the final 45 minutes to win, 2-1.
 
No. 6 ranked Charleston was looking to build an early lead as they pushed NDC back to defend the goal. Notre Dame goalkeeper Pedro Alves was alert on Charleston's first shot, taken by Luis Maestre. Alves fell to the ground and secured the ball as the shot skimmed the turf.
 
Alves finished the game with three saves, and made two important stops in the first half to keep the contest close.
 
Three minutes after the first shot, Lewis Redding found the back of the net to give UC a 1-0 advantage. The Golden Eagles had a few players in the right outer corner of the box, and they passed the ball around to find Redding with the open look.
 
Approaching the 15th minute of play, Charleston was in the attacking third, again. Off a corner kick, the ball was worked around to the left side of the field. At that point, Duvan Canchila crossed the ball high, over the middle of the box and Paul Caliari's header put the ball into the net to give Charleston a 2-0 lead.
 
The No. 21 ranked Falcons knew what they had to do. The team was also down 2-0, on Thursday, in the semifinals against Davis & Elkins. NDC would tie that game in regulation and win in penalty kicks. They never wavered on Sunday and continued to go at the Charleston defense, especially in the second half.
 
At halftime, Charleston had taken five shots to NDC's two. But in the final 45 minutes, Notre Dame sent in four shots on target.
 
Just five minutes into the second half, the Falcons adjustments began to show. After passing midfield, sophomore Marcus Vinicius Pereira sent the ball up the field to Silva, near the box. A Golden Eagle defender ran over and slid to clear the ball, but missed and Silva jumped over him and was one-on-one with the UC goalkeeper. He scored his third goal of the tournament to cut the deficit to one, 2-1.
 
The Falcons had chances to tie the contest throughout the second half, as they were able to move the ball quickly, with long passes from midfield, into Charleston territory. UC goalkeeper Marc Torrado stopped the next three shots on goal to secure the win.
 
The MEC named the All-Tournament Team, following the contest. Sophomore Taylor Dyson and Silva were recognized on the field. Dyson had a goal and an assist in the quarterfinal win over West Liberty. Silva had three goals in the tournament, two against West Liberty and one against Charleston. He also assisted on a goal in the quarterfinal victory.
 
Last week, Notre Dame was ranked seventh in NCAA Division II Super Region One. The top 10 teams in the final regional rankings earn a bid to the national tournament. The men's soccer selection show will be aired on Nov. 7, at 6:30 p.m. and NDC will be watching to see if they will be playing next week. You can watch the show on NCAA.com.