Box Score CINCINNATI, Ohio â€" Two things had to happen on Saturday for the Earlham College men's soccer team to win the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season championship.

They both did and the Quakers (11-8, 7-2) claimed their first conference crown since 1985.

Earlham won 1-0 at the College of Mount St. Joseph to do its part in the scenerio.

"I feel humble in that there was certainly an element of good fortune," Earlham Head Coach Roy Messer said. "But at the end of the day, this is a group of guys who really want to win."

The good fortune came when Defiance College then helped the Quakers with a 1-0 victory over Hanover College. Hanover began the day on top of the HCAC standings and the loss dropped the Panthers to third.

The end result is that Earlham is now the top seed in the upcoming HCAC Tournament, which begins on Tuesday. The Quakers entertain Transylvania University (12-4-2, 6-2-1) on Matlack Field at 2 p.m. Hanover (10-7-2, 6-2-1) travels to the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (9-5-2, 6-1-2) for Tuesday's other semifinal contest.

The HCAC Tournament Championship match is at the highest remaining seed on Saturday with the winner qualifying for the NCAA Div. III National Tournament.

On Saturday, Jacob Ebbs provided the scoring for the contest with the Lions (3-16, 2-7) when he converted a penalty shot at 53:38. It was his seventh goal of the fall.

The Quakers led 13-10 in shots, while the Lions held a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Earlham goalkeeper Sam Embry had two saves for the Quakers to post his sixth shutout of the season.

Post-Season Notes

Earlham won 3-1 over Transylvania on Matlack Field in the regular season match last month between the two squads.

The last time the Quakers reached the post-season was in 2011 when they fell in the HCAC Championship match at Rose-Hulman.

As a member of the NCAA and the NAIA in 1985, the Quakers won titles in the College Athletic Conference and the Illinois-Indiana College Soccer Conference.  

Earlham's only trip to the NCAA Div. III National Tournament came in 1998.

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