GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum women's soccer team will begin the 2017 South Atlantic Conference Championship tournament with a quarterfinal match against Lenoir-Rhyne Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Pioneer Field.
The Pioneers (10-6-0) earned the number-four seed in the eight-team field after finishing with a 7-3-0 record in SAC regular-season play. The Bears (11-5-1) were 6-3-1 in the conference and finished in fifth place in the league.
The teams met in Hickory on Sept. 16, and the Pioneers came away with a 2-1 win on goals in the final 5 1/2 minutes by Jordan Newby and Sonja Ballmert. Tusculum goalkeeper Hannah Graham finished with a season-high eight saves for Tusculum, who earned their first win over Lenoir-Rhyne since 2007 and earned the 300th victory in program history.
Admission prices for Tuesday's match are $5 for adults and $3 for youth 12 and under, seniors 60 and over and active and retired military, and free for children 5 and under. College students with identification are admitted for $2, with Tusculum students who show valid identification having their admission charge covered by the Tusculum athletic department.
Tusculum has relied on a balanced attack this season, with seven players scoring three or more goals and 13 different players registering at least one point. Newby led the team with five goals in 15 matches, primarily off the bench, while Ballmert had a team-high 12 points on four goals and four assists, including three game-winners. Kate Guildford, Payton DeHart, Brooke Radcliffe, Cheyenne Upton and Rachel Roberts all added three goals for the Pioneers, while Carly Culler leads the team and is tied for fourth in the SAC in assists with five. Twelve of the Pioneers' 28 goals have come from players who came off the bench, helping Tusculum rank fourth in the SAC in goals scored with 28.
In goal, Graham has made 52 saves and ranks sixth in the SAC in save percentage (.776) and seventh in goals against average (1.16). She has started 13 of the Pioneers' 16 matches, with Danielle Breen compiling a 2-1 record in three appearances (two starts) with a 2.02 goals against average and Tatiana Brady making three appearances (one start) with a 1.23 goals against average. As a team, Tusculum ranks seventh in the SAC in goals against average at 1.30 and is tied for fifth with six shutouts.
Lenoir-Rhyne is led on offense by Abbie Brown, who is tied for sixth in the conference in goals with six and is sixth overall in points with 17. Hannah Van Eerden and Aqsa Mushtag have scored four goals apiece for the Bears, while Abigael McGarel and Stephanie Figueiredo have netted three goals each. Lenoir-Rhyne has outscored its opponents by a 30-17 margin in 17 matches, ranking the Bears third in the SAC in offense and fourth in defense with a 0.97 goals against average. Alayna Morris has started all 17 matches in goal for the Bears, compiling six shutouts while making 45 saves for a save percentage of .738.
Tusculum trails Lenoir-Rhyne 15-14-2 in the all-time series, with this year's win snapping a 11-match winless streak for the Pioneers in the series (0-9-2). The Bears are unbeaten in their last five matches at Pioneer Field (4-0-1) since a 1-0 Tusculum win on Oct. 6, 2006. This will be the seventh all-time meeting between Tusculum and Lenoir-Rhyne in the SAC Championship tournament, with the Pioneers holding a 3-2-1 edge.
The last meeting between the schools in the SAC tournament came in the 2009 semifinals, when the Bears advanced on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw. The Pioneers are 2-5 all-time in penalty kicks in the SAC Tournament, and have been eliminated from the conference tournament via penalties four times in the last six seasons, including last year against Anderson.
Tusculum has qualified for the SAC Tournament each year since first becoming eligible for conference postseason play in 1999. In that span, the Pioneers are 11-3-4 in quarterfinal matches, 5-5-2 in semifinals and 3-1-1 in championship games. Tusculum is also 12-2-3 all-time in home SAC Tournament matches, advancing on penalty kicks following two of the three draws.
The winner of Tuesday's match will advance to the semifinals against the winner of Tuesday's quarterfinal match between eighth-seeded Newberry and top-seeded Carson-Newman. The semifinal match will be played at 4:30 Friday at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.C., which will be the site of the championship match on Sunday at 4 p.m.
2017 South Atlantic Conference Women's Soccer Championship
Quarterfinals: Tuesday, October 31
at campus sites
Game 1: #8 Newberry at #1 Carson-Newman, 4 pm
Game 2: #5 Lenoir-Rhyne at #4 Tusculum, 7 pm
Game 3: #7 Catawba at #2 Wingate, 5 pm
Game 4: #6 Anderson at #3 Queens, 5 pm
Semifinals: Friday, November 3
at Manchester Meadows (Rock Hill, S.C.)
Game 5: winner game 1 vs. winner game 2, 4:30 pm
Game 6: winner game 3 vs. winner game 4, 7 pm
Final: Sunday, November 5
at Manchester Meadows (Rock Hill, S.C.)
Game 7: winner game 5 vs. winner game 6, 4 pm
