LYNCHBURG, Va. - A chilly breezy night in Lynchburg, Virginia set the stage for the Vikings to kick off their run in the D3 NCAA National Playoffs against the Christopher Newport Captains. A hard fought battle ended in the tragic defeat of the Vikings in overtime that caused the end of an incredible season for the Vikings.

The start of the match turned out to be a neutral bout with both sides putting in solid attacking efforts along with organized defense. All it took was a mistake in the 24th minute to open the scoring. Asher Kuzemka of the Captains, fired in a shot from outside the box, which caused the defensive error of the Vikings that redirected the ball into the back of the net leaving the Vikings at a disadvantage moving forward.

With this obstacle put in front of the Vikings, they now had to turn their desire into fuel, fighting hard for the rest of the half to hopefully gain a bit of momentum.

The second half started and the Vikings looked ready and were not out of the match just yet. Some chances that were not capitalized on early on gave the Vikings a bit of hope and pictured a way out of this game on top.

Through some tactical changes made form the Vikings, including a formation change to the 4-3-3 formation, this created success in the attack for the Vikings.

At minute 76, through the hard challenges and chaos in the box of the Captains, freshman Timothy Ratokhin found a way through the opposing defense and placed the ball into the path of senior Max Albertson which equalized the match making this the third goal he has scored in the last two games. 

The Vikings, with their newly found momentum, made great attempts in trying to put an end to the game in regulation time by scoring another goal, but just came up short in doing so with a couple of close calls. The final whistle would blow, signifying that overtime was upon this already spectacular battle. 

Overtime commenced with both teams looking determined to stay alive in the NCAA National Playoffs. The Captains pushed the envelope and it would end up working out to their ultimate benefit.

On an attempt to neutralize the attack of the Captains the ball made an unfortunate and awkward path into the head of Michael Hackworth, which led to a shot that would ultimately end this fantastic season of the Berry Vikings. 

The Vikings end their season with an 11-6-5 record (3-3-1 in conference) as SAA Conference Champions. Truly some incredible efforts were put in to contribute to the success of their highly respectable season. Go Vikes!