#1 Dalton State won their first men's soccer national championship going to penalty kicks after 110 minutes of play and getting a 3-2 edge over #5 William Penn (Iowa) at Scheels Stryker Soccer Complex in Wichita, Kan. on Monday afternoon.
Scoring penalty kicks for Dalton State were Jip van den Essen, Kazuma Ishizuka and Frank Rodriguez.
#1 Dalton State (Ga.) ends the season undefeated at (22-0-2 overall) and earns the program's first national championship. At the same time, William Penn (Iowa) ends the season at (20-3-3 overall).
Penn never let the Roadrunners possess the ball and made it hard for the Birds to score.
Shots went the Statesmen's way at 10-8 overall and 2-0 on frame. Nicolas Leite once again came up big in net with two saves in 110 minutes and three big stops in penalty kicks.
Dalton State becomes the first team since Graceland (Iowa) in 2006 and the 8th team overall to go through the NAIA Men's Soccer Championship without being scored upon. They are the 1st team in the new postseason format to win 5 tournament matches without allowing a goal. It was the 18th shoutout for the Birds on the year.
The national champions will be honored at halftime of Friday's men's basketball game against Middle Georgia State. Tip-Off at Bandy Gym is 7:00 p.m.