Tusculum, Mars Hill Advance To Championship Of Food Lion SAC Men’s Soccer Tournament

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Fifth-seed Tusculum College and sixth-seed Mars Hill College advanced to the championship match of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament with upset wins in Friday night's semifinals at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.C.

The Pioneers and Lions will meet for the championship at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Tusculum 2, Carson-Newman 1

Anteneh Lemma scored two goals including a penalty kick goal in the 85th minute as No. 5 seed Tusculum College upset top-seeded Carson-Newman College 2-1 in a semifinal match of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament.

Carson-Newman's Darren Hulem and Tusculum's Anteneh Lemma battle for the ball during Friday's semifinal match.

The Pioneers (9-6-2) advance to Sunday's SAC Tournament Championship match as they will face No. 6 seed Mars Hill College, who upset No. 2 Wingate 4-1 on Friday. Carson-Newman (No. 15 in NCAA Division II) has its nine-match winning streak halted as the Eagles fall to 13-4-1 and will await word later this weekend of a possible NCAA II Tournament berth.

Tusculum will be playing in its third straight Food Lion SAC Tournament Championship match and will look to capture its fourth SAC Tournament crown (1999, 2004, 2008). Mars Hill will be in quest of its third SAC Tournament trophy (1997, 1998).

TC got on the board first when Lemma scored his ninth goal of the season when he tapped into an open net on a through ball pass from Nick Rich at the 16:54 mark.

The battle between the two East Tennessee rivals was a physical one as the teams were whistled for 31 fouls, combined, including five cards. C-N's Robert Hill, the team's leading scorer, was issued a red card at the 73:56 mark of the match.

Despite being a man-down, Carson-Newman got the equalizer at the 80:01 mark when Matthew Finlay sent in a free kick from 22 yards out to the top of the box and was headed in by Daniel Zitt to the far post. For Zitt, it was his third goal of the season.

But with 5:39 left in regulation, the Eagles were called for a hand ball foul in the box, setting up Lemma's penalty kick at the 84:21, which proved to be the match-winner, his! ! third of the season.

Carson-Newman out-shot the Pioneers by a 21-11 margin, including a match-high five shots by Omar Cooke. Tusculum's Lance Moore recorded three saves in goal for the victory, while Jordan Moore finished with five saves in his 90 minutes of action.

Mars Hill 4, Wingate 1

ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Mars Hill Lions' men's soccer team eliminated the No. 2 seed, Wingate University 4-1 Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Soccer Tournament to advance to the championship match on Sunday. MHC improved to 8-7-4 on the season while Wingate fell to 12-4-1 on the year. This is the first time MHC has made it to the finals of the SAC Tournament since the 1998 season.

Mars Hill's Kenny Wallace heads the ball during Friday's tournament match against Wingate.

Xavier Belles (Guayaquil, Ecuador) scored the first goal in the match off a deflection to give the Lions a 1-0 advantage at the 22:30 mark. The teams carried that score into the locker room at the intermission.

Stephen Kehoe (Newry, Ireland) tied the match in the 60th minute on a deflection off a Bulldog corner kick. Rury Caulfield (Glasgow, Scotland) then notched what would later prove to be the match winner at the 73:08 mark from about 20 yards out on a pass from Cody Langley (Longview, Texas).

Belles added an insurance goal in the 79th minute on a long breakaway. The final goal in the contest was due to an own goal by Wingate at the 83:29 mark.

Wingate out shot MHC, 25-15 and edged the Lions in corner kicks, 11-7. Alex Huckabee (Kernersville, N.C.) played the entire 90 minutes in goal for MHC and made 12 saves. The 12 saves tied his career high. Joey Calandra (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) also played the entire contest in the net for the Bulldogs and made five saves.

The Lions will now meet No. 5 Tusculum College in the SAC Championship on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Manchester Meadows. Tusculum upended top-seeded Carson-Newman, 2-1 to advance to the finals.