The Heartland men's soccer team entered this weekend with one goal in mind: win the District Tournament to secure its spot at Nationals. The Hawks did just that, defeating No. 18-ranked St. Louis Community College in Thursday's semifinal match before taking home a victory over East Central College in Saturday's championship in Park Hills, Mo.
 
In a tightly-contested semifinal matchup, the Hawks narrowly escaped with a 1-0 win to open up District play on Thursday. Oier Izko netted the lone goal in the match off of an assist by Mario Sapena in the 33^rd minute. Goalkeeper Gonzalo Castells contributed 1 save in the victory for the Hawks.
 
The Hawks would return Saturday for the championship match against East Central College. Heartland was once again battle-tested against the Falcons, as the Hawks brought home the championship trophy with a 2-1 win. Alex Benitez opened the scoring early for the Hawks with a goal in the 8^th minute off of a Jaedyn Saunders assist. Raul Oliu added a score in the 37^th minute to extend Heartland's lead to 2-0. The Falcons' lone goal came in the 69^th minute. Castells finished the contest with 5 saves on 6 shots on goal.
 
Heartland now advances to the NJCAA DII National Tournament in Tuscon, AZ, which takes place Nov. 14-19. The full bracket will be released on Tuesday via the NJCAA Network and the NJCAA Soccer Twitter page.