Box Score RICHMOND, Ind. — Win and wait for help. That was the plan for the Earlham College men's soccer team on Saturday.

A 3-0 Earlham victory over Franklin College on Matlack Field started a sequence of events that led to the Quakers qualifying for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed.

The waiting and eventual help came from Transylvania University and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, which defeated Anderson University and Defiance College, respectively. The combination of all three results enabled the Quakers to move into fourth place and earn a spot in the post-season.

This fall's conference post-season tourney appearance will be the first for the Quakers since the 2000 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament when they were runner-up. The Quakers also lost in the first round of the NCAC Tourney in 1999.

Earlham (5-12-1, 4-4-1) will now travel to No. 1 seed Transylvania (11-4-3, 8-0-1) on Tuesday for an opening round match at 2 p.m. The Pioneers won the regular season contest in Lexington between the two teams 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 12. The other match in the tourney features No. 3 seed the College of Mount St. Joseph visiting the No. 2 seed Rose-Hulman at 7 p.m. Tuesday's winners will meet at the highest remaining seed on Saturday for the championsip and automatic trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

On Saturday, the Quakers took a lead late in the first half as Ameer Yusuf (Ramallah, Palestine, Friends) scored at 37:37 with an assist from Felipe Buitrago (Bogota, Colombia, United World College USA). It was the first assist of the season for Buitrago.

In the second period, Irhad Strika (Bosnia-Herzegovina, United World College Mostar ) celebrated Senior Day with a goal and an assist as the Quakers scored late in the contest.

Strika scored at 86:14 to give the Quakers a 2-0 lead. After a foul by Franklin (8-10-1, 3-6), Earlham was awarded an indirect kick about 20 yards from the goal.

Corey Campbell (Mason, OH, Mason) tapped the ball, which allowed Strika to hammer the ball into the net just out of the reach of Franklin's goalkeeper. Campbell now had one assist to go with three goals this fall.

The final goal of the match was by Yusuf at 88:36 with Strika assisting. Yusuf has a team-high eight goals for the Quakers, while Strika had three goals and two assists this year.

The Quakers led 7-5 in shots, while Franklin had a 5-0 advantage in corner kicks.  

Earlham goalkeeper Chris Marshall (Highland Park, NJ , Highland Park HS) had three saves for the Quakers.

In addition to Strika, the Quakers honored Pablo Hernandez-Romero (Arlington, TX, Lamar High School), who was also in uniform for the final time at home.

Box Score