WICHITA, Kan. — With a spot in the Heartland Conference postseason already locked up, the Newman men's soccer team did just enough to earn a home game in the first round, falling 1-0 to Rogers State in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon at Wilkins Field.

KEY SEQUENCE

The Jets (9-7-2, 7-5-2, 23 pts Heartland) were locked in a defensive battle with the Hillcats (10-5-3, 7-5-2, 23 pts Heartland) well into the final 10 minutes of the game. The decisive moment came when RSU's Jordan Watson was brought down in the box, and Danny Sanchez buried the penalty kick.

SCORING PLAYS

83'-RSU-Danny Sanchez, penalty kick. Shot low and to the left gave the Hillcats the game's lone score.

HOW IT HAPPENED

-The Jets got going early with shots from Rich Wincer, Adam Sawyer and Chibueze Nwagwu in the first 18 minutes. Sawyer's was one of the team's best chances of the game, as a corner flew across the box, was headed down by Jamie Barkway, and blasted at the goal, but right at a defender, which deflected the ball away.

-RSU countered with a shot in the 28th, which forced a save out of Newman keeper Blake Andrews, but that was the guests' only shot of the opening half.

-Kieran Laking and Carolos Rubio Garcia each uncorked a shot later, but the score remained scoreless heading into intermission.

-The game took on a more back-and-forth pattern in the second. Each team had opportunities, but Newman just barely missed getting on the board first in the 66th, as Vitor Okamoto unleashed a bullet from the left flank that clipped the keeper's glove and ricocheted off the crossbar.

-After the Hillcats scored, both teams were looking for the next goal in the final minutes. The Jets managed five shots in that span, with Luca Anelli putting two shots on  goal and Barkway adding another that required a nice save.

NOTES

-The Jets and Hillcats went deep into the Heartland Conference tiebreakers to determine with team got the coveted fourth seed in next week's league championship. The two sides split the season series, had an even goal differential in those two games, and allowed the same number of goals in the two matches, which were the first three deciders. Newman earned the tiebreaker thanks to the fourth criteria, record against conference opponents, starting with the top team in the standings. The Jets' 1-1-0 record against top seed Midwestern State bested RSU's 0-2-0.

-That tiebreaker means the Jets will host a conference playoff game for the first time since moving to Division II and joining the Heartland Conference. It is the third straight season Newman has qualified for the postseason.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Jets turn around and host RSU again at 7 p.m. Tuesday back at Wilkins Field in the Heartland Conference quarterfinals.