The Dominican University men's soccer team left very little doubt about who the best team in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) team was this season, rolling to a 6-0 win over the Benedictine University Eagles in the NACC Tournament Championship to secure the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship tournament.  Holding a 2-0 lead at the break, the Stars poured it on in the second half, scoring four times in the first 22 minutes of the half to cruise to the victory.
 
"I'm very proud of this team," said Erick Baumann, the Stars' long-time head coach following his 19^th conference tournament championship at the helm of the Dominican men's soccer program. "They came out today and did an excellent job executing our game plan with quality and intensity. I told them a while back that they are a special group and when we do all things together, we can accomplish our goals."
 
Dominican's eventual game-winner came in just the seventh minute of play on a beautiful set piece from just outside the 18-yard box.  After short pass, senior Isaac Perez came streaking forward and carried with speed on the left side before slotting a pass for the back post where Jonathan Hernandez was able to tap in for his first of two goals on the afternoon.
 
Dominican rattled the frame a couple of times after the opening goal and then finally added another tally in the final minute of the first half when Nicolo Vitale chipped a long ball towards the top of the box where Corbin Voyles headed it right to the foot of Denis Soldo who one-timed a shot into the back of the goal.
 
Dominican then dashed any hopes of an Eagles' comeback early in the second half, tacking on an insurance goal in the 49^th minute when Vicente Castro got on the end of the slotted ball by Hernandez after the sophomore gained the endline after a turn in the box.
 
The Stars then put the championship on ice, scoring a trio of goals over a five minute span.  The first came off the foot of the NACC Offensive Player of the Year Perez in the 63^rd minute before Hernandez and Soldo each knocked in their second goals of the match in the 65^th and 68^th minutes respectively.
 
Dominican outshot the Eagles 16-11 and put nine shots on goal to the Eagles four.  Defensively, Dominican stayed compact and organized, forcing Benedictine to take most shots from outside the 18-yard box.  The Stars' Daniel Dominguez made four stops to pick up the shutout, the ninth of the season for the sophomore goalkeeper.
 
With the win, the Stars earn their 16^th bid to the NCAA Division III men's soccer national tournament and will find their tournament destiny on Monday when the NCAA announces the field of 64-teams.  The brackets will be unveiled on NCAA.com at 12:30 p.m. CT.
 
"Earning the opportunity to play in a national tournament is never an easy task," said Baumann. "I want to recognize our fans today. Their energy from the bleachers was awesome. It was also really nice to see so many alum and former champions here today supporting this team.  Now, here we go!"