ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Two first-half goals lifted Tusculum College to a 2-0 victory over Coker College in the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer Championship tournament Friday night at Manchester Meadows.
The second-seeded Pioneers (15-3-0) will play fifth-seeded Lincoln Memorial in the championship game on Sunday at 4 p.m., after the Railsplitters eliminated Brevard in penalty kicks after playing to a 2-2 draw.
Shawn Foster scored his first career goal to open the scoring in the 10th minute, and first-team All-Conference forward Andre De Giorgi netted his 14th of the year in the 35th minute as the Pioneers advanced to the conference championship match in search of their second championship in the last three seasons.
Dallas Dunn assisted on both goals for the Pioneers, who outshot sixth-seeded Coker (7-8-2) by a 25-17 margin, and had an 11-4 edge in shots on goal in the match. Jorge Alvarez finished with four saves to record his seventh shutout of the season for the Pioneers, who also defeated the Cobras 2-0 during the regular-season meeting on Oct. 25.
Coker had the first two shots of the match, but the Pioneers came back with three in a row including Foster's header off a cross from Dunn at 9:14 which gave Tusculum a 1-0 lead. The Cobras responded with four unanswered shots, but Alvarez came up with a save on Alvaro Urena in the 19th minute to keep the margin at 1-0.
Tyler Linkous nearly gave the Pioneers a 2-0 lead in the 28th minute, but his blast from 15 yards was knocked down by Coker keeper Justin Walker. De Giorgi, who had been denied by Walker in the 33rd minute, came through at 34:49 as he collected a feed from Dunn and beat Walker from the top of the box for a 2-0 Pioneer lead.
Tusculum's defense clamped down on the Cobras over the final 10 minutes of the half, holding Coker without a shot attempt as they went to the locker room with the two-goal advantage.
After being outshot 11-7 by Tusculum in the first half, Coker came out shooting in the second half but Alvarez made a save on Aladdin Elfares in the 48th minute. The Pioneers had a flurry of seven consecutive shots in a span of eight minutes, but Walker came up with saves on Erlend Aase in the 58th minute, Isai Hernandez in the 59th minute and Foster in the 60th minute.
Urena nearly put the Cobras on the board in the 62nd minute, but his shot went off the crossbar to keep the Pioneer lead at 2-0. Alvarez came up with saves on Mads Aagurd in the 76th minute and Jaedon Williamson in the 82nd minute, with the last good chance for Coker coming with 6 1/2 minutes left on a header by Elfares that went wide.
De Giorgi led all players with eight shot attempts in the match for the Pioneers, with four on goal. Elfares had a team-high five shots for Coker, with Urena adding four. Tusculum outshot Coker 14-10 in the second half, putting six shots on frame.
Coker finished with a 6-3 edge in corner kicks, and were whistled for 15 fouls to 12 by the Pioneers. Walker made nine saves in goal for the Cobras, who were also shown three of the five cards in the match.
Tusculum will be looking for its sixth SAC Tournament championship, having won previously in 1999, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2014. Lincoln Memorial won its only SAC championship in 2007, which came over Tusculum by a score of 3-1.
