MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- North Central University Men's Soccer moved one step closer to defending their NCCAA Division II Region Championship with a 2-0 victory over Faith Baptist Bible College on Tuesday afternoon. The Rams got a goal and an assist from two players to earn a spot in Wednesday afternoon's NCCAA North Central Region Championship Game verses top seed Providence College. 

North Central (7-10-1) controlled the tempo and pace for much of the contest but could not forge ahead before the interval as the Rams and Faith Baptist Bible College (Ankeny, Iowa) went to the half tied 0-0. A gritty and tough battle from the Eagles would keep the game scoreless for nearly 75 minutes before the Rams finally broke through.

Junior Stephen Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./South) took a pass from sophomore Christian Stepaniak (Woodbury, Minn./Maranatha Christian) and broke through the Eagles defense and left it off to freshman Sam Larson (Eau Claire, Wis./Wildlands) who pounded it home in the 74th minute. The goal was the first of Larson's career and would also eventually stand as his first career game winning tally.

With the result still potentially in doubt Larson returned the favor to Johnson who pounded a shot off the bottom of the cross bar that hit off the back of the Eagles keeper and into the net to give the Rams a 2-0 lead in the 89th minute. The goal was Johnson's third on the season and puts him at eight points on the year.

NCU will advance to Wednesday afternoon's NCCAA North Central Region Final to take on Providence College (Otterburne, Manitoba) at 3:15 p.m. The winner of that regional final will earn a berth in the 2012 NCCAA Division II Men's Soccer National Championship Tournament on November 7-10 at the Austin Tinsdal Soccer Complex in Kissimee, Florida.

The Rams and Providence College battled to a 1-1 draw on September 7 in a neutral site game played at the Pepsi Soccer Complex in Fargo, N.D.

NCU defeated Providence 1-0 in last year's NCCAA Region Final to earn their first trip to the NCCAA National Tournament in a decade.