GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's soccer team finishes its 2021 season on Wednesday, Nov. 3 when Queens University of Charlotte comes to Pioneer Field for a 7:30 p.m. match.
The Pioneers (1-10-2, 0-8-2 SAC) will attempt to play spoiler on the Royals' chances of finishing in the top four in the conference and earning a home match in Saturday's quarterfinal round. Queens is tied with Anderson at 17 points heading into Wednesday's match, but the Trojans own the tiebreaker from a 1-0 victory on Sept. 29.
Tusculum will be seeking its first home win of the season against Queens, as the Pioneers carry an 0-3-1 record on its home turf into Wednesday's contest. Wednesday's contest will also be Senior Night, as the Pioneers will honor the senior members of the squad prior to the match.
RECAPPING THE WEEK
Catawba defeated Tusculum 4-0 Saturday afternoon at a rainy Pioneer Field. The Indians scored twice in each half and outshot the Pioneers by a 16-9 margin. Catawba's two goals in the second half came after the Pioneers were forced to play a man down due to ejection. Tusculum freshman goalkeeper Nicolas Leite made four saves in his first career start.
PROFILING THE PIONEERS
Junior forward Ignacio Alconchel is ineligible for Wednesday's match, leaving him with seven goals in 13 matches this season. Alconchel led the Pioneers with 43 shot attempts and 20 shots on goal. Junior forward Damien Baltide has added three goals and is second to Alconchel on the team in both shot attempts (23) and shots on goal (10). Baltide and senior defender Dani Gongora are the only Pioneers to have started all 13 matches this season.
Tusculum ranks 11th out of 12 teams in the SAC in goals per game at 1.15 per contest, and is next-to-last in the league in goals against average at 2.53. In conference matches, the Pioneers are last in scoring with 10 goals in 10 matches, while their 26 goals conceded are ahead of only Lincoln Memorial (27) and Newberry (28).
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Queens (6-6-2, 5-3-2 SAC) has three wins and a draw in its last four matches, including a 2-0 win at Coker on Saturday. Freshman Matheus Pereira scored the first goal for the Royals and assisted on the second goal from senior forward Felipe Mendonca, both in the first half. Queens played the final 30 minutes with the man advantage after a Coker player was sent off. Queens outshot Coker 16-5, with freshman keeper Nicolai Andersen earning the shutout without making a save.
Mendonca leads the SAC with 14 goals and is tied for the conference lead with 30 points. He scored eight goals in the Royals' first four matches, including a hat trick against Clayton State on Sept. 7, and had a second hat trick in a 3-0 win over Lincoln Memorial on Oct. 16. No other Queens player has more than two goals, led by Pereira with two goals and two assists in 10 matches. Andersen has started 12 matches and has a 1.09 goals against average with five shutouts and a .731 save percentage.
Queens has won three straight regular-season meetings over Tusculum, but the Pioneers lead the all-time series 6-4. Tusculum's last victory over Queens was a 3-2 win in the NCAA Division II first round in 2018, and the Pioneers' last regular-season triumph came in double overtime by a 1-0 score on Sept. 14, 2016 at Pioneer Field.
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
Live stats and video are available for all home Tusculum University men's soccer matches. Links to stats and video for home and away matches are available at tusculumpioneers.com.
