HANOVER, Ind. – The Hanover men's soccer team advanced to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championship after defeating no. 6 seed Bluffton on Wednesday afternoon 4-2.
 
Hanover will move on to play the winner of no. 1 seed Rose-Hulman and no. 5 seed Defiance, a contest to be played tonight at 7:00 PM.
 
The Panthers wasted little time capturing the early lead as senior Luke Eppler (Evansville, Ind.) took a pass from senior Fernando Martin (Sao Jose Rio Preto, Brazil) in the 2^nd minute for the 1-0 advantage.
 
Freshman Joao Domenici (Alphaville, Brazil) made his way into the scores column as he found the back of the net in the 38^th minute following an assist by teammate sophomore Scott Zehnder (Louuisville, Ky.), 2-0.
 
At the intermission, HC led the attack with seven first half shots to Bluffton's two attempts.
 
The second half saw senior Josh Hughes (Lafayette, La.) net what would become the game-winner as he beat the Beaver defense en route to the 3-0 difference.
 
Bluffton responded in the 59^th minute before Hanover's Domenici provided his second goal from the pitch to give the Panthers an insurance goal, 4-1.
 
Bluffton netted the final strike with just under 20 minutes remaining but were unable to navigate the Panther back line any further as they claimed the HCAC Tournament advancing victory.