NCAA Championship Bracket
PAINESVILLE, Ohio – After receiving an opening round bye, No. 2 seeded Lake Erie earned a victory on its home field in the NCAA Championship Super Region Three bracket over No. 7 seed Lewis on Saturday evening, 2-1. LEC is one of four teams remaining in each super region bracket, officially clinching coveted status in the Sweet 16.
The Storm were one of two Great Midwest Athletic Conference programs competing with No. 8 Cedarville seeing its season come to an end against Super Region Three’s No. 1 seed, UIndy, at Key Stadium.
Lake Erie now awaits the winner of No. 3 Wisconsin Parkside and No. 6 Fort Hays State as the Storm complete region hosting responsibilities at Mentor High School before traveling to UIndy in the Super Region Three semifinals on either Dec. 2 or 3.
Great Midwest Freshman of the Year Teddy Baker sustained his amazing play in the postseason going back to the conference tournament with one of LEC’s two goals.
Forward Tom Pearson netted the other, and what turned out to be the eventual game winner, in a fierce second-round matchup that saw the Storm score twice in the second half.
Lake Erie had to erase a 1-0 deficit against the Flyers from the Great Lakes Valley Conference, who defeated No. 10 seed Davenport on Thursday, 2-0.
Lewis scored the game’s first goal about one minute before halftime by Jimmy Mwanga. Baker and the Storm countered on the attack out of the locker room as the freshman forwarded scored his ninth goal of the fall in the 54th minute of regulation to tie things up.
It was Tomas Fernandez on the assist for Pearson’s game winner at the 71:54 mark in the second half. Lewis had the advantage in the shot department, 11-5, while Tomas Wroblewski made seven saves for the Storm in net.
This was Lake Erie’s second appearance in the NCAA Super Region Three bracket after earning the No. 1 overall seed in 2019. The Storm improved their overall record to 16-3-1.
Earlier in the afternoon at UIndy, the Greyhounds ended Cedarville’s successful season after the Yellow Jackets played Ohio Dominican for the fourth time in Thursday’s opening round and advanced with a 1-0 win.
In the preseason, Cedarville and UIndy both scrimmaged, with nothing official, but gave both programs a general idea of what to expect if they had met later down the road.
UIndy grabbed a 2-0 lead through the first 17 minutes and change. The Greyhounds added their third goal in the 75th minute and the Yellow Jackets prevented the shutout bid as Jackson Isaacs scored with about five minutes left on the clock.
Cedarville’s season officially came to an end with an overall record of 14-5-1.