MONTGOMERY, Ala. – William Carey scored twice early and held off host Faulkner for a 2-1 victory Saturday in the Southern States Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championship.

With the win, the Crusaders earn the automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament, hoisting the trophy for the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2021.

Souleymane Balde opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at 11:43. Fabian Arroyo added another unassisted goal at 19:50, giving William Carey a 2-0 advantage with what proved to be the game-winner. Both players scored on their only shots of the match, and William Carey converted both of its shots on target.

"Two amazing goals and probably two of the best we've scored all year," said head coach Barry Farrell. "Getting those two early against a good team in Faulkner, I knew that would come clutch in the end for us."

Faulkner generated eight first-half shots but initially could not get past goalkeeper Pablo Diez, who made three saves before halftime. Diez stopped Pepé Riofrio at 32:45 before Asaph Silveira broke through at 43:44, scoring off an assist from Angel Ugwumba to cut the deficit to 2-1 entering the break.

The hosts continued pushing for an equalizer after halftime, outshooting William Carey 11-2 in the second half. Diez saved Juan Rojas' attempt at 48:57 and stopped Leo Freire at 57:04. Another save against Gustavo Nau at 81:02 kept the visitors ahead as Faulkner's pressure extended into the closing minutes.

The pivotal sequence came at 85:46, when Diez was credited with a save against Rojas and a penalty-kick stop against Konsti Witte at the same timestamp. Diez finished with eight saves, including five after halftime, while playing all 90 minutes.

"It was tough, because you have a lot of time to think where the ball is going to go," said Diez. "Thankfully, I saved it and did my job, and I'm very happy because the team had a great effort in the second half to get the win."

Faulkner finished with a 19-5 advantage in shots, a 9-2 edge in shots on goal and six corner kicks to William Carey's two. Riofrio recorded four shots, including two on target, while both of Rojas' attempts required saves. Faulkner goalkeeper Andre Ferreira played the full match and allowed two goals without recording a save.

Ugwumba totaled three shots in addition to the assist on Silveira's goal. Faulkner's final recorded attempt came from Ugwumba at 88:18 and was blocked, leaving the score unchanged through the final whistle.