Lincoln Memorial Men’s Soccer Team Advances To Elite Eight
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- For a second straight season, Lincoln
Memorial has won the NCAA Division II Appalachian Region Men's
Soccer Championship with Sunday's 2-1 win over Carson-Newman. The
region tournament was held at the Niswonger Sports Complex and
Pioneer Field on the campus of Tusculum College.
The Railsplitters (18-3-1) advance to the NCAA Elite Eight once
again where they will face Great Lakes Region champion Northern
Kentucky next weekend. Carson-Newman ends its season at
15-3-2.
LMU scored a pair of goals just a minute apart to take a 2-0 lead,
but had to hold off a furious Carson-Newman charge in the second
half.
LMU keeper Brent Cole recorded 10 saves, including two acrobatic
stops in the final 10 minutes as he was named the Region
Tournament's Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
Guilherme Alves got the Railsplitters on top first as he blasted a
shot to the right side of the net on a pass by Marcelo Galafassi at
the 27:04 mark. For Alves, it was his sixth goal of the
season.
A minute later, Nelson Pizarro sailed a shot from 30 yards in front
of the goal and bent it into the top left corner for his 13th
scoring tally of the season and the second in this year's
regional. Pizarro was named the tournament's Most Outstanding
Offensive Player.
In the second half, Carson-Newman applied tremendous pressure,
spreading out the LMU defense. C-N out-shot LMU by a 20-9 margin
in the second half, including 11-3 in the second half.
The Eagle pressure paid off in the 72nd minute when Alessandro
Oliveira found the back of the next from 12 yards away to cut the
deficit in half at 2-1.
Cole made save after save, including Omar Cooke's shot at the 73:43
mark which the LMU net-minder deflected wide. C-N's Lars Holstad
looked to have the equalizer a minute later, but Cole punched the
shot over the cross bar.
With two minutes left, Alves got loose on a breakaway for the
Splitters looking to add an insurance tally, but his roller past
C-N keeper Jordan Moore trickled just wide of the far post. C-N
got one last shot as Holstad's blast from 15 yards away sailed wide
with 62 seconds remaining.
Moore went the distance for the Eagles while posting a pair of
saves.
LMU's pairing with Northern Kentucky will be a rematch of last
year's national quarterfinal, which the Railsplitters were
victorious 2-1.
Joining Cole and Pizarro on the All-Tournament team from LMU are
Felipe Nogueira, Vitor Souza and Leonardo de Barros. The C-N
quartet of Cooke, Holstad, Richard Marquetty, and Marcus Cabralis
were also named to the All-Tournament squad, along with Bruno
Conceicão (Tusculum) and Luke Mulholland (Wingate).
NCAA II Appalachian Region All-Tournament Team
Brent Cole, Lincoln Memorial
Felipe Nogueira, Lincoln Memorial
Vitor Souza, Lincoln Memorial
Leonardo de Barros, Lincoln Memorial
Nelson Pizarro, Lincoln Memorial
Omar Cooke, Carson-Newman
Richard Marquetty, Carson-Newman
Marcus Cabralis, Carson-Newman
Lars Holstad, Carson-Newman
Bruno Conceicão, Tusculum
Luke Mullholland, Wingate
Most Outstanding Offensive Player: Nelson Pizarro, Lincoln
Memorial
Most Outstanding Defensive Player: Brent Cole, Lincoln Memorial
