By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
Joel Green punched through a free kick with under two minutes remaining to cap a dramatic second half comeback and push the Murray State men's soccer team to the NJCAA Region 2 title game with a 3-2 win over NOC-Enid at the Advance Soccer Complex in Enid on Friday.

The Aggies bounced back from a pair of disappointing performances against the Jets in the regular season, including a 4-2 loss to the Jets on the same field on Sunday that cost them a first round tournament bye. In the process they advanced to the region finals for the first time in school history.

Now 11-4-1 on the year, Coach John Connor's squad will challenge top seed Eastern Oklahoma State College in the championship at 1 p.m. on Sunday with a trip to the Mid-South District Tournament finals going to the victor. Murray State split regular season meetings with the Mountaineers, winning 5-1 at home and losing 3-2 in Wilburton.

Much like they did on Sunday, NOC-Enid built a 2-0 first half cushion but the Aggies would not fold, tightening up defensive after the break with Jaron Noble tossing a shutout in goal over the final 45 minutes.

Murray State finally got on the board when Dominic Woolley fed Daika Montague for the initial goal, cutting the deficit in the half. The Aggies then got a little luck on their side when a Jets player inadvertently knocked the ball into his own net, resulting in the tying goal.

That's how it remained, looking like the game might go into overtime, until Green came through finding the back of the net with a free kick that gave the Aggies the only lead they would need all day.

"The guys showed real fight today," Connor said. "Fighting back all the way and then winning it in regular time. The men have worked our socks off all year, and they are going to get what they deserve and a chance to play for the region title. We had to do it the hard way and play that extra game, but everything happens for a reason."