It was a remarkable year for the Lindenwood athletic program in 2009-10. Over the next 10 weeks, www.lindenwoodlions.com will bring you the top 10 moments of the last school year.

The No. 3 moment comes from the men's soccer program and its thrilling win in the HAAC Tournament championship game.
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For the Lindenwood Lion men's soccer team the 2009 regular season did not go as exactly as planned. The regular season ended with the Lions compiling a 7-9-2 record, but they did have a 5-3-1 record in HAAC play.

When the regular season ended the Lions would get a new life and start the HAAC tournament with a chance to still salvage the season. The tournament started with the Lions beating Baker 1-0. They would  then match up against the top seed in the tournament, Benedictine. The Ravens came into the game undefeated in HAAC play but the Lions would pull off a 1-0 upset and move onto the championship game. 

In the title contest, Lindenwood would take on the Missouri Valley Vikings in Marshall, Mo. The thrilling final against the Vikings is the No. 3 moment of the 2009-10 athletic season.

Just ten days before the finals the Lions played the Vikings in their final regular season game. The game was very competitive with the Vikings scoring the game-winning goal with just minutes to play.

Once again in the conference tournament the game would be very close. As the game began both teams played a very tight game and neither team could dent the scoreboard.

As the first half clock dwindled down the Vikings finally broke through when Carlos Arribas scored in the 43rd minute to give Missouri Valley the 1-0 lead at the half.

With the Lions trailing 1-0, the second half would begin just like the first half started. Both teams were playing a very defensive game. Finally the Lions were able to get something started on the offensive side of the field and would tie the game thanks to a goal from Victor Alvardo in the 60th minute.

The goal was a big momentum shift in the game as the Lions would come right back and take the lead two minutes later. Robin Rundstorm would score his fourth goal of the season to give his team the lead 2-1.

With the Lions holding the lead by a slim one goal margin the Vikings did not back off. They pressured the Lions defense and broke through with a goal to tie the score. Arribas would score his second goal of the game in the 77th minute.

After the Vikings tied the score the game clock would run down and send the game into overtime. This was the second straight game the Vikings would be forced to play an overtime period. In its previous contest, Missouri Valley beat Graceland in penalty kicks. This would be the first time the Lions played extra time.

The overtime rules for the tournament were two ten minute overtime periods and if the game was still tied there would be penalty kicks.

Neither team was able to score in the first overtime and in the second overtime so the tournament championship would come down to penalty kicks.

In the first and second rounds of penalty kicks both teams were able to score. In round three, Lindenwood goalie Victor Francoz would stop the shot by Valley forward David Flores and John Murphy would score for the Lions, to give Lindenwood the lead.

With the lead Francoz would stop a shot from Pedro Franco to give the Lions a chance to win it. Alvardo would get the call to try and win it but his shot was stopped by Valley goalie Igor Lima. Valley would tie it up with a successful attempt but the Lions would once again have a chance to win it.
This time Hutter would call on his goalie to take the shot. Francoz would bury the game winner to give the Lions the 4-3 PK win.

With the tournament championship the Lions would move onto the NAIA National Tournament where they would fall to the University of Rio-Grande in the first round.

The Lions would end their season with an overall record of 9-10-3.

No. 4 Moment of the Year: Lindenwood Women's Lacrosse Wins Conference Tournament
No. 5 Moment of the Year: Men's Basketball Scores Win Over No. 1 Team in the Country
No. 6 Moment of the Year: Lady Lion Table Tennis Wins First Ever National Championship
No. 7 Moment of the Year: Softball Scores a Huge Win Over MidAmerica Nazarene
No. 8 Moment of the Year: Baseball Wins a Wild One Against Central Methodist
No. 9 Moment of the Year: Women's Soccer Scores Upset of Ranked Team
No. 10 Moment of the Year: Women's Tennis Wins HAAC Championship