Carson-Newman, Wingate Earn Bids To NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS -- Carson-Newman College and Wingate university received bids to the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament, the NCAA announced Monday.

The 15th-ranked Carson-Newman men's soccer team will be making their seventh straight postseason appearance, which is a South Atlantic Conference record.

The Eagles (13-4-1) will host Lander (12-5-2) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at McCown Field.

The C-N/Lander winner will advance to to take on Anderson (12-3-3) on Friday at 4 p.m. in Anderson, S.C.

C-N went 7-1 in South Atlantic Conference play this season to win the regular season title and earn the top seed in the SAC Tournament. After taking down Catawba, 3-1, in the first round, the Eagles fell to rival Tusculum, 2-1, in the semifinals, snapping their nine-match winning streak.

Lander enters the tournament having won nine out of its last 10 matches, including a win over top-seeded Flagler in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship match. The Bearcats went 1-2 against SAC competition this season as they defeated Newberry and lost to both Wingate and Tusculum.

On the other side of the Southeast Region bracket is top-seeded Lees-McRae (15-2-1), the seventh-ranked team in the nation. Lees-McRae will host the winner of Wingate/Flagler on Friday at 7 p.m.

Last season C-N faced Francis Marion in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and built a 3-0 lead before falling to the Patriots, 4-3 in overtime.

The Eagles are 3-6-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

The Wingate University men's soccer team will host the Saints of Flagler College in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional tournament Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs earn the fourth seed in the tournament, while Flagler is the number five seed.

Wingate are 12-4-1 overall and 6-1-1 in the SAC, good for a second-place regular season finish. The Flagler Saints went 14-5-2 during the regular season and 7-1 in their first season in the Peach Belt Conference.

The 2009 season marks the third NCAA Tournament appearance for the Bulldogs. Wingate's most recent appearance was in 2007, when the Bulldogs fell to Lincoln Memorial University. Wingate hosted an NCAA first round contest in 1999, falling to Queens (N.C.). This will be the first-ever matchup between Wingate and Flagler. The Saints are making their first appearance in the big dance.

The Bulldogs are led by four All-SAC selections, including 2009 SAC Player of the Year Luke Mulholland (Preston, England). A 2008 All-American, Mulholland has 15 goals and three assists on the year. His 0.94 goals per game average ranks first in the SAC. He finished second in the league with 2.06 points per game. Thirteen of Mulholland's 15 goals this year were against SAC opponents, including two goals against Newberry in the quarterfinals of the Food Lion SAC tournament. He also led the conference with seven game-winning goals.

Senior forward Junior Nyemb (Douala, Cameroon) was named the SAC Scholar- Athlete Award winner, while also earning first team All-SAC honors. He finished second on the team and seventh in the league with nine goals on the year. Nyemb has earned All-SAC honors all four years of his Wingate career. A three-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III selection, Nyemb has netted 44 goals as a Bulldog.

Sophomore defender Tom Poole (Birmingham, England) also earned first team all-conference honors, while junior defender Jack Vundum (Birmingham, England) was a second team selection. The duo helped anchor a Wingate defense that was third in the league in goals against average. Poole had a goal and two assists on the year, while Vundum notched an assist as well.

Flagler is led by sophomore forward Mack Hough (St. Augustine, Fla.), with 10 goals and five assists on the year. Sophomore midfielder Pol Berenguer (Barcelona, Spain) is right behind him with seven goals on the year, while freshman forward Joseph Toby (Jacksonville, Fla.) has a team-best six assists to go along with four goals. Johan Bergfeld (Akers Styckebruk, Sweden) was a first team All-Peach Belt selection, while Toby was named the league's Freshman of the Year. In addition, Flagler's John Lynch was named the PBC Coach of the Year.

The Wingate-Flagler winner will face semi-final host and number one seed Lees-McRae College Friday in Banner Elk, N.C. The other side of the Southeast Regional bracket features number two seed Anderson (S.C.) University, a future member of the South Atlantic Conference. Anderson will face the winner of Wednesday's contest between number three seed Carson-Newman College and number six seed Lander University.