WARRENSBURG, Mo. — Once the Bellarmine University women's soccer team huddled up for the final time this season and then met with its supporters, the tears began flowing in earnest.

But the 14th-ranked and second-seeded Knights departed the field Friday at Central Missouri with their heads held high. They pushed top-ranked and top-seeded Grand Valley State, the two-time defending national champion, to the final buzzer before the Lakers pulled out a 2-1 victory in the Midwest Region finals of the Division II NCAA Tournament.

"There weren't a lot of tears walking off the field immediately after the game because we knew we had done everything we could ask of each other," BU Coach Chris Tinius said. "You want to win but, if you do that, you're going to feel OK no matter what.

"Grand Valley is a high level, classy program," he added. "We gave them our best effort, and they beat us. You can't be disappointed in that. We have to take confidence from how we competed and tip our cap."

This was a landmark season for Bellarmine (17-3-2). The Knights set a program record for overall victories, captured their first-ever Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season title and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.

The hope — which was realized — was that Bellarmine was on a collision course with Grand Valley State (21-1), which has won four of the last six national championships. After falling to Quincy in their season opener, the Lakers won 21 straight matches, including a 6-0 romp over the Hawks in the regional semifinals before meeting the Knights.

On Friday, Bellarmine had a pair of scares early, as Grand Valley State hit the crossbar and post with a pair of shots. However, after Grand Valley State goalkeeper Emily Maresh needed to leap to punch away a shot by junior forward Mary Beth Gorham, the Knights seemed to dig in with the Lakers.

At the intermission, Grand Valley State led 1-0 on a tremendous shot inside the far post from mid-range by National Player of the Year candidate Marti Corby, who sank her 24th goal of the season in the 27th minute. The Lakers held an 8-5 advantage in shots in the first half.

"We felt really good at halftime," Tinius said. "We dodged a couple bullets early those first 10 minutes. Once we settled in, we stuck to our game-plan and were very committed to how we wanted to play. The girls were working extremely hard. (Grand Valley) probably could have had another goal or two with a little luck their way, but we probably could have had a goal in the first half if the ball bounces differently. We gave ourselves a chance after one half."

The score remained 1-0 for much of the second half until Grand Valley State's Jayma Martin converted a deep cross into a 2-0 lead in the 76th minute.

"We wanted to make them earn what they got," Tinius said. "The first goal you're not going to find one better as far as an individual touch and strike. They came out to start the second half with a little more aggression and a good build-up that led to a good service and shot. We made them earn the two goals that they got. They capitalized and good teams will do that to you sometimes."

That latter statement could apply to Bellarmine as well. With less than 10 minutes remaining, Gorham set up for a free kick in the center of the field approximately 20 yards from the goal. She leveled a low shot that skidded past a diving Maresh and into the net as BU cut its deficit to 2-1 in the 81st minute.

It was Gorham's 13th goal of the season, a new program record.

"She had several really good set pieces today," Tinius said of Gorham, who also broke the single-season points record and finished with 33. "Those are chances you have to take and make the most of in a game like this, and we got one. It gave us a chance in the final minutes."

Ultimately, Grand Valley State pulled it out. The Lakers finished with a 16-12 advantage in shots, but the Knights held a 7-5 edge in shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Hannah Poteet collected three saves for Bellarmine in an active outing protecting the net.

After the game, Tinius went one-by-one to each of his players and congratulated them on the historic season and their performance in the finale.

"Our effort and commitment to each other was everything you can ask for," he said. "Sometimes you just come up against a really good team."

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