RENSSELAER, Ind. – Missouri S&T was in a position Sunday to land a home game in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, but let a two-goal lead in the second half slip from its grasp and fell 3-2 to Saint Joseph's College.

 

S&T was in line to host a first round game in the conference tournament after Bellarmine had lost to Southern Indiana on a goal in the final minute of play and Wisconsin-Parkside was in the process of losing 3-0 to Drury. However, S&T could not sustain its own lead as the Pumas – who entered the day still in the GLVC playoff race themselves – scored three times in a span of just over 14 minutes to take the contest.

 

As a result, the Miners will open the GLVC Tournament next Sunday as the No. 7 seed and will play at Northern Kentucky in the opening round at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. The Norse beat the Miners 3-1 last Sunday and eliminated S&T on a late goal in the opening round of last year's conference tournament.

 

S&T scored both of its goals in the opening half. The first came when Ryan Muich (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) headed in David Kekec (St. Louis, Mo./Ladue)'s cross in front at the 19:18 mark, followed by an unassisted tally by Jervis Atagana (Columbia, Mo./Hickman ) with just under five minutes left in the half when he got to a loose ball near the goalkeeper and put it in the net.

 

However, the Pumas were able to score all three of their goals on long shots off of set pieces to overcome the S&T lead.

 

Greg Gehrig got the first goal out of an indirect kick as he put in a shot from about 25 yards away. That was followed by two goals off the foot of Bojan Adler, as he scored on direct free kicks at the 66:09 mark and again at 69:22.

 

The Pumas outshot the Miners 13-9 on the afternoon; Pat McNamee (Fenton, Mo./Vianney ) was credited with four saves in goal for S&T.

 

Prior to playing Northern Kentucky, the Miners will play their final home game of the year Wednesday when they face Truman State at 6 p.m. at the S&T Soccer Field.