WINGATE, N.C. --- Tusculum College continued its remarkable second-half turnaround with a 2-0 victory at Wingate University in a South Atlantic Conference men's soccer match Thursday night.

The Pioneers, who opened the season with six straight losses, evened their record at 7-7-2 and improved to 6-1-1 in the SAC, clinching the number-two seed in next week's Food Lion SAC Tournament with the victory. The Bulldogs dropped to 4-11 overall (2-6-0 SAC) with the setback.

Stephen McNeill scored in the fourth minute and Kjetil Paulsen added a goal in the 67th minute for the Pioneers, while Andy Goellner came up with eight saves in recording his seventh shutout of the season.

McNeill opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season at 3:54 on a penalty kick, and nearly gave the Pioneers a 2-0 lead in the 24th minute but hit the crossbar with his shot. Wingate nearly tied the game in the final moments of the first half, but Goellner made two saves and a third shot hit the post during a flurry of action in front of the Pioneer goal.

Paulsen provided the insurance goal at 66:24, converting a pass from Roberto Pimentel into his first goal of the season. From there, the Tusculum defense allowed Wingate just one shot on goal over the final 23 minutes to complete the shutout.

Overall, the Pioneers finished with an 18-14 advantage in shots and a 6-5 edge in corner kicks. Peter Trask played in goal for the Bulldogs and came up with seven saves in the match.

The Pioneers, who wrap up the regular season Sunday at 2 p.m. with a SAC match at Lenoir-Rhyne, locked up the second seed in the Food Lion SAC Tournament when Mars Hill closed its regular-season conference schedule with a 4-0 win over Lincoln Memorial Thursday night. Tusculum and Mars Hill are tied for second place in the conference with 19 points, but the Pioneers hold the tiebreaker by virtue of their 1-0 win over the Lions on Oct. 5.

- TC -