Concord, NH - The CM Men's Soccer team played Paul Smith's College (NY) for the Yankee Conference Championship Sunday morning. Although the Mustangs had a lot of good possession and a couple good opportunities the score remained 0-0 after the first forty-five minutes.

The second half proved more eventful when not even two minutes in when Abdilahi Abdi poked a ball back to Mohamed Matan who stepped around a defender and blasted a shot into the top right corner, giving CM a 1-0 lead. At 61:05 Abdibaari Hersi took a corner kick for CM and it deflected off the Bobcats goalkeeper Steven Donnelly and into the goal. CM was feeling good with a 2-0 lead, but Paul Smith's wasn't ready to quit.

Just two and a half minutes later the Bobcats scored a similar corner kick goal putting them on the board, 2-1. On the following restart the Mustangs made a few passes backwards and Marvis Nosa from Paul Smith's stole the ball and fired a long shot over the CM defense and goalkeeper, evening the game 2-2.  

It would take overtime to decide the winner. Suab Nur provided a ball over the top to Mohamed Matan wo collected it and was fouled from behind in the box, giving CM a penalty kick. Co-captain Abdibaari Hersi stepped up and buried his PK in the top right corner.

Hersi would be awarded the tournament MVP for his performance over the weekend. CM's Suab Nur would be awarded the Offensive Player of the Tournament while Paul Smith's goalkeeper Steven Donnelly was awarded Defensive Player of the Tournament.

Donnelley made seven saves in the game while CM's Abdullahi Abdullahi made five.

After the game Head Men's Soccer Coach, Bryan Wallace, said, "I am so happy for this team. It has been a challenging season so it is no surprise that this game would be a challenge as well. They are a resilient group though, and they had to prove it after Paul Smith's two quick goals. They stepped up, played gritty and took the game back. Mohamed Matan, Abdilahi Abdi and Abdirahman Daud worked really hard in the middle and Brandon Starr and Mohamud Hassan played particularly well for us in our back line today."

With the win, the Mustangs secure an automatic bid to the USCAA National Tournament in Virginia. More information on seeding, schedules, and venues will be available in the coming days.