The Tusculum College men's soccer team will open the 2012 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament with a quarterfinal match at top-seeded Mars Hill College Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. The match was originally scheduled for Tuesday afternoon but moved due to the forecast of rain, snow and cold weather.

The Pioneers (7-7-3 overall) finished tied for seventh in the SAC with Lenoir-Rhyne with a 3-4-2 conference record, but the Bears earned the seventh seed via their 3-1 victory last Sunday over the Pioneers, who are seeded eighth in the tournament.

The Lions (13-2-2 overall), ranked 13th in the latest NSCAA Division II poll, won the SAC regular-season championship with a 7-1-1 league record. It was the first league title for the Lions since sharing the 1998 championship with Catawba.

Mars Hill won the regular-season meeting between the teams by a score of 4-2 in Greeneville on Sept. 20 thanks to two goals in the first 7 1/2 minutes of action.

The Pioneers were led on offense by sophomore Andre Bissmark, who scored four goals and added three assists for a team-high 11 points. Bissmark scored three game-winning goals, including a penalty-kick goal in the first minute of overtime against Milligan last Wednesday night.

Sophomores Fredrik Muren and Roberto Pimentel also scored four goals to share the team lead with Bissmark, while sophomore Cody Kammerzell added three goals.

The Tusculum defense was anchored by All-Region sophomore Matias Rubio along with senior Brandon Burney and freshman Dario Greiser. Tusculum allowed one goal or less in 10 of its 17 matches, and recorded three shutouts in conference play.

Senior Andy Goellner started 13 games for the Pioneers and compiled a 5-6-2 record with four shutouts and a 1.44 goals against average. Freshman Victor Ohlin made four starts and went 2-1-1 with a 1.69 goals against average, including a shutout of Wingate in the regular-season finale.

The Lions come into the postseason unbeaten in their last seven matches (five wins, two ties). Both of Mars Hill's losses came to teams that Tusculum defeated during the season - a 1-0 loss to Limestone on Sept. 5 and a 2-1 overtime setback to Catawba on Sept. 28.

A strong Mars Hill offense is led by Stephen Bivens, who has recorded nine goals and 20 points this season. Shadi Harb and Alex Mullen have scored eight goals apiece, and Felipe Ferraro has six goals and seven assists for 19 points.

Zac Scott has started every match in goal for the Lions and has recorded six shutouts and a 0.74 goals against average. Scott, who has recorded 78 saves for a save percentage of .857, has allowed more than one goal in a match just twice all season.

The winner of Wednesday's match will play the winner of the match between fourth seed Wingate and fifth seed Anderson in a semifinal match on Friday at 7 p.m. at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.C. The Food Lion SAC Championship match will be played Sunday at 4 p.m. at Manchester Meadows.

Wednesday's other quarterfinal matches are seventh seed Lenoir-Rhyne at second seed Carson-Newman and sixth seed Catawba at third seed Lincoln Memorial. The winners of those matches will meet in the other semifinal match on Friday.

No. 8 Tusculum at No. 1 Mars Hill, 7 p.m.
No. 5 Anderson at No. 4 Wingate, 4:30 p.m.
No. 6 Catawba at No. 3 Lincoln Memorial, 3 p.m.
No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne at No. 2 Carson-Newman, 4 p.m.

Semifinals - Friday, November 2 at Rock Hill, S.C.
Mars Hill/Tusculum winner vs. Wingate/Anderson winner, 7 p.m.
Lincoln Memorial/Catawba winner vs. Carson-Newman/Lenoir-Rhyne winner, 7 p.m.

Finals - Sunday, November 4 at Rock Hill, S.C.
Semifinal winners, 4 p.m.