Tusculum, LMU, Wingate, Lenoir-Rhyne Advance In Food Lion Men’s Soccer Tournament
Top-seed and conference champion Tusculum College and fourth-seed and defending tournament champion Lincoln Memorial University won their quarterfinal matches of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men's soccer tournament, while sixth-seed Wingate University and seventh-seed Lenoir-Rhyne both scored upsets to advance to Friday's semifinals.
Friday's pairings have Tusculum facing Lincoln Memorial in a rematch of last year's tournament championship match. Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne meet in the other semifinal. Both men's semifinals matches will start at 6 p.m. at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.c.
No. 1 Tusculum 4, No. 8 Catawba 1
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- The top-seed Tusculum College men's soccer team advanced to the semifinal round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament with a 4-1 win over Catawba College on Wednesday night at Pioneer Field. Tusculum improves to 16-2-1 with the win, while Catawba concludes its season at 4-14.
The Pioneers found themselves trailing early when Catawba's Tim Finotti took a cross from Chad Villard and one-touched it past the TC keeper for his second goal of the season in the third minute, which gave the Catawba Indians a 1-0 advantage.
Senior forward Bruno Conceicão brought the Pioneers back on terms with his SAC-leading 21st goal of the campaign in the sixth minute, taking a touch pass from Richard Schofield and tapping it into the back of the net for the equalizer. Schofield then notched the eventual match-winner in the closing seconds of the 11th minute, finding the back of the net for the first time in his career off a pair of volleyed flicks by Conceicão and Anteneh Lemma to put TC up 2-1.
With the Pioneers still holding the 2-1 advantage, Lemma scored his 11th goal of the season in the 31st minute, curling a shot into the net after Telmo Dantes flicked a Scott Lucky cross to the sophomore midfielder just outside the six-yard box. Lemma later added his 12th of the campaign in the 41st minute, when he one-touched a back pass from Conceicão past the Catawba keeper to give Tusculum a 4-1 lead heading into half time.
Tusculum outshot the Catawba Indians 19-8 in the match, including a career-high nine shots by Lemma. The 5-7, 145-pound midfielder also tied a career best with two goals in the match, and also found the frame a career-high six times. Conceicão and Dantes each tallied two assists to lead the Pioneers, as Lemma, Lucky, and Schofield each added a helper of their own.
Junior goalkeeper Lance Moore allowed one goal and made three saves to anchor the Pioneer defense in the match, while Catawba's Tyler Held played the first 60 minutes, making seven saves. Ross Willard tended the Catawba net for the final 30 minutes, making one save.
The Pioneers now advance to the semifinal round of the SAC Tournament in Rock Hill, S.C. where they will square off against the fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters on Friday evening. The match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill.
No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne 2, No. 2 Carson-Newman 1
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Carson-Neman men's soccer team was defeated by Lenoir-Rhyne 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the Food Lion SAC men's soccer tournament Wednesday.
Lenoir-Rhyne will face Wingate in the semifinals. Lenoir-Rhyne improves to 9-8-1 on the season and Carson-Newman falls to 11-4-2.
The only score of the first half came from Robbie Hill (Middlesbrough, England) in the first minute of the game when he found the back of the net with a one touch placement. He was assisted by Matt Finlay (Liverpool, England). The remainder of the half was a back and forth effort by both teams. The Eagles outshot Lenoir-Rhyne 7-6.
Just fourteen minutes into the second half Lenoir-Rhyne's Aaron Wheeler dribbled from 30 yards out and chipped Carson-Newman's keeper Jordan Moore (Hendersonville, Tenn.) to tie the score 1-1.
With twelve minutes remaining in the game, Lenoir-Rhyne struck again. E.J.Ogodo dribbled past the Eagle defense and slid the ball into the right corner of the net to make the final score 2-1 in favor of Lenoir-Rhyne.
Lenoir-Rhyne will advance to the second round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament that will be held in Rock Hill, S.C. on Friday at 6 p.m.
No. 6 Wingate 2, No. 3 Newberry 1
NEWBERRY, S.C. -- The Wingate University men's soccer team scored two goals in the final 18 minutes to rally past Newberry College 2-1 in the first round of the 2008 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men's soccer tournament Wednesday afternoon. Wingate improves to 11-6-2 overall, while Newberry falls to 5-11-1. The Bulldogs advance to the semifinals Friday evening at 6 p.m. The semi-final contest will be played at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.C.
The two teams played to 0-0 tie in the first half. Both teams had eight shots in the first frame with Wingate holding a 3-2 edge in shots on goal. The scarlet-and-gray took the lead at the 69:30 mark when freshman midfielder Ryan Felden (Tega Cay, S.C.) scored from 20 yards out to make it 1-0 Newberry.
The Bulldogs had the answer, scoring three minutes later on a free kick from sophomore forward Rory Green (Sleaford, England). The scoring spurt continued two minutes later, when sophomore forward Jamie McKenna (Thornton, England) took a pass from freshman midfielder Tom Mills (Preston, England) and netted his eighth goal of the season to give the Bulldogs the lead for good at 2-1.
Newberry held a 20-15 advantage in shots on the afternoon, including an 8-6 edge in shots on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Joey Calandra (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) collected six saves for the Bulldogs. Senior goalkeeper Will Dieterich (Tampa, Fla.) played the first half in goal for Newberry, securing two saves. Redshirt freshman James Woods (Summerville, S.C.) played the second half in the nets, collecting one save for the hosts.
Wingate advances to the semifinal round to take on Lenoir-Rhyne. The winner of Friday's match will advance to the championship contest, which will take place Sunday at 4 p.m., also at Manchester Meadows.
No. 4 Lincoln Memorial 2, No. 5 Mars Hill 1
HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Lincoln Memorial University men's soccer team earned the right to defend its 2007 South Atlantic Conference Tournament title on Wednesday afternoon with a 2-1 win over the Lions of Mars Hill College in the quarterfinals of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament.
The Railsplitters got on the board first in the 16th minute of the match when junior Pedro Canineu (Sorocaba, Brazil) caught an overstruck corner kick and place it in the box. Teammate Brito Martins (Sorocaba, Brazil) then headed the ball past Lion's keeper Sean Merfeld to put LMU on top 1-0.
Just before the half, the LMU men struck again. This time is was All-American defender Felipe Nogueira (Uberaba, Brazil) who bent a direct kick around the wall and into ! ! the left side of the net to give the Railsplitters a 2-0 advantage.
Trailing 2-0 late in the match, Mars Hill's only score of the day came on a penalty kick following a hard LMU foul in the box. The Lions Troy Cole placed a blast toward the left side of the net which Railsplitter goalkeeper Michael Watkins (Statesville, NC) got a hand on but could not stop. The goal cut the LMU lead to one but the Lions eventually fell short and end the year at 10-9.
The No. 4 seed Railsplitters, now 11-6-2, are set to take on No. 1 seed Tusculum College match on Friday afternoon at 6:00 p.m. in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Should LMU emerge victorious in the semifinals, they would try to run the table again by winning Sunday's championship match that is set for 4:00 p.m.