WICHITA, Kan. – No. 1 Dalton State (Ga.) completed an unbeaten season (22-0-2) and won the 2024 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship, defeating William Penn in penalty kicks after a scoreless draw through 110 minutes of action.
 
The championship is the 40^th all-time by an SSAC team, and the first men’s soccer title since 2012 and 2013 when Belhaven and Martin Methodist won back-to-back championships. 
 
Story Courtesy of NAIA Athletics Communications
 
Finishing the 2024 season with an undefeated mark (22-0-2), Dalton State (Ga.) used a 3-2 win in penalties to claim the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship title over William Penn (Iowa) after a scoreless 110 minutes of action.
 
Dalton State (Ga.) became the first team in tournament history to not allow a single goal in the entire tournament since the field expanded and five games was necessary to win the crown. The Roadrunners conceded only seven goals in 24 contests this season.
 
In a highly anticipated matchup between a pair of sides looking to secure their first NAIA National Championship in program history, neither team was going to go down without a fight. Fifteen minutes into the match, both sides had taken two shots, but none on frame and neither side had conceded a corner kick. It was setting the table for a long, fiercely battled contest. Then in a span of five minutes, each side had two shots and a corner kick drawn, but only one was on frame. After a slew of substitutions, as both coaches put fresh legs on the field, William Penn generated one final attempt inside the last minute of the first half.
 
Moving onto the second half, William Penn was the instigator with four corner kicks drawn between the 53rd minute and 63rd minutes. Their best chance came off a header from Ricardo da Silva, off the free kick, went wide of the goal.
 
From that point, there was a noticeable shift in intensity as both sides increased their offensive output. In quick succession, Mason Dalton’s shot was blocked and the attempt from Juan Demichelis went wide right.
 
At the 79:16 mark, there was a breakaway for the Statesmen, but the attempt from Albert Feixas was easily saved by Leite. Then four minutes later, it was the Roadrunners time to have a quality attempt deflected as Leonardo Seixas’ take from the top of the six yard box was blocked. Just under one minute remaining, Leighton Jameson tried to one time the ball off the corner kick, but the side volley went right of goal.
 
At the end of regulation, William Penn led 9-8 in shots taken and 4-2 in corner kicks. They were also the more aggressive side with a 21-9 edge in fouls called.
 
During the regular season the Roadrunners had two ties but no experience with extra time matches in the postseason, meanwhile the Statesmen had two regular season contests end as a tie as well as two games decided by shootout – once in the opening of the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament and in the Semifinals of the NAIA National Championship.
When 90 minutes wasn’t enough to crown a champion, the match moved to sudden-victory overtime. The first true scoring opportunity came from WPU when Leite bobbled the ball. Dalton State had a crack at it on the other side of the field, but the touch from Seixas went off the end line for a goal kick. The first corner kick of the first OT was with 2:30 to go, but the service into the box was easily headed away by the Roadrunners.

After a foul was called on the Statesmen about 40 yards away from the goal, the service into the box bounced off the chest of Leite but the Dalton State defense cleared it out of the danger zone.
 
Advancing to penalties, Leite gave the Roadrunners a nice start as he blocked the kick, allowing Jip van den Essen to take an early lead. After Leite blocked the second kick as well, Kazuma Ishizuka gave DSC a 2-0 edge. Quickly it was 2-2 after John-Joe Mullane and Feixas scored with a save from Sean Bohan sandwiched in between. As Connor O'Reilly stepped up the PK spot, he needed to score to keep William Penn’s hopes alive. Leite, however, came up with the difference maker as he blocked his third of five attempts.
 
Last time the national championship game went to a shootout was in 2018 when Central Methodist (Mo.) bested Missouri Valley 4-3 to win the championship. William Penn ends its campaign with the best season in program history with a record of 20-2-4.