CLINTON, Miss. - As soon AJ Williams' penalty kick attempt beat Phil D'Amico on the ground to the left, West Alabama men's soccer rushed Robert P. Longabaugh Field to celebrate its third Gulf South Conference Tournament Championship in as many seasons, drawing with West Florida 1-1 and winning 6-5 via penalty kick shootout on Sunday.

Officially going down in the books as a tie, the Tigers move to 11-6-2 on the season, while the Argos finish the year at 10-5-3.

"We're not here to play bingo," UWA head coach Matthew Thorne said. "I'm so pleased with every one of the players, but more importantly, this win was for Josh Gurvitz, Eric Rivera and Trigg Langner." 

"It was battle that went into double overtime and then to penalties. After our first player missed his shot, it was an uphill battle, but every one of our boys kept their cool and put it away, and Brad Louis made two massive saves to help us win our third straight title."

Stephen Carroll gave West Alabama a 1-0 advantage in the 26th minute of the championship contest, netting his fifth score of the season after cleaning up a ball dropped by D'Amico in the goal box.

West Florida came up with the equalizer in the 71st minute as Allan Kuhne and Marteinn Urbancic teamed up to level the match. Kuhne put a throw though the box where Urbancic grabbed control and finished the ball at the back post to even the score line at 1-1.

After 110 minutes on the pitch, UWA and UWF marched out one last time for a penalty kick shootout. Trailing the shootout 2-1, GSC Tournament MVP Brad Louis (10-6-2) saved Erick Rivera's attempt and placed the Tigers in position to claim the GSC crown by punching away Tristan Rehrig's shot to the far post.

Rounding out the All-Tournament selections for the Tigers were All-GSC defenders Ashley Phillips and Jack Shiels, as well as forward Clay Green.

Now, the Tigers wait to see where they land in the NCAA Division II South Regional Rankings.