TULSA, Okla. ?- In the Summit League regular season finale, the Western Illinois men's soccer team lost 1-0 at Oral Roberts, leaving its spot in the conference tournament up for grabs.

The Leathernecks (6-10-3, 2-3-1 Summit) gave up a goal in the 39th minute from Jordan Tatum, which proved to be the game-winner for the Golden Eagles (7-10-0, 3-3-0 Summit). The goal came on a free kick from 20-yards out.

Neither team mustered any type of offense early on. Wester came away with the first scoring threats off a header from Nebojsa Opacic (Katy, Texas/Illinois Central College) and a shot by Martin Browne, Jr. (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo), which ended up with a save for ORU-keeper Andrew Techanchuk and a team save respectively. Leatherneck goalkeeper Stephen Paterson (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sir Winston Churchill) would be tested with three shots on goal in two minutes, coming away with all three saves. The Golden Eagles would get three of the next four shots on goal for the match, before Tatum connected for his second goal of the year.

At intermission, the advantage in shots was for ORU with 11 to Western's eight. Paterson made six first have saves in net, while the offense managed four shots on goal.

In the second half, Western was able to stay aggressive on offense, firing 12 shots in the period. The first four shots of the half did not land on goal. Nathan Sanchez (Moline, Ill./Moline) found his own rebound on that fourth shot, which was blocked, but could not beat the keeper. Senior Phil Duret (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney) found the same result on a shot three minutes after the look by Sanchez.

The final minute of the game provided two scoring opportunities for the Leathernecks. Jona Andrade (Miami Fla./Sunset Senior) had a shot blocked with 37 seconds left to play. Western's last hope fell when a shot by Nikola Katic (Mikarska, Croatia/Illinois Central College) went wide, giving ORU the single goal victory.

Western's chances for making the conference tournament now hinge on the result of the Oakland-UMKC game, Saturday afternoon. The Leathernecks sit a half game back in the loss column of the Kangaroos. A loss for UMKC would propel Western into the number four spot in the Summit standings based on points.

Regular season play wraps up for Western Sunday, November 11, with senior day at John MacKenzie Alumni Field. The start time has been changed to 11 a.m. for that match.