A pair of subs teamed up to give Hastings its second NAIA men's title over Rio Grande, while Northwestern Ohio was crowned for its first time after winning the NAIA women's championship over 2015
champion Spring Harbor.
Lucas Venegas' goal in the second half gave Hastings a 1-0 win over Rio Grande. The victory in regulation snapped a string of three straight games the
Mustangs won in overtime or shootout.
Venegas' goal followed a great through ball from Australian
Eric Birighitti. Both players were subs.
"We knew coming into this
game that someone off the bench would have to do something for us," Hastings coach
Aaron Champenoy said. "Four game in six days we needed someone to step up. The longer the game went we just
needed to stay with it. It was a great break as Birighitti found Venegas with a great touch and found a great spot and tucked it in."
Northwestern Ohio beat Spring Harbor, 1-0, on
Hannah Baines' goal in the 32nd minute. Spring Arbor had beaten the Racers in the 2015 semifinals en route to the final. Baines had been injured in the second round a year ago and missed the
rest of the playoffs.
"Last year Hannah Baines got injured on that field and came back this year and scored the game-winning goal in the national championship final," UNOH coach
Stuart
Gore said. "I don't think Hollywood could have wrote that script."