GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's soccer team will face defending champion Catawba College in the quarterfinal round of the South Atlantic Conference Championship tournament on Saturday, October 29 at Catawba, beginning at 7 p.m.
The Pioneers secured the seventh seed in the eight-team field after completing the regular season with a 3-3-5 conference record, good for 14 points in the standings. Tusculum went undefeated (3-0-4) in its last seven league matches after opening the year with three losses and a tie in their first four conference contests.
The Indians were relegated to the second seed after dropping their regular-season finale on the road to Lenoir-Rhyne 4-1 on Wednesday night to snap a 25-match conference unbeaten streak (22-0-3). Catawba, ranked 12th in the United Soccer Coaches Division II poll and second in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region rankings, went 8-1-2 in conference play and brings a 14-2-2 overall record into Saturday's quarterfinal match. Before allowing four goals to Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday, the Indians had given up a total of two goals in their previous 14 matches, a run that included 11 consecutive shutouts.
Tusculum and Catawba met on September 24 at Greeneville, with the Indians scoring twice in each half to earn a 4-0 victory. Catawba outshot Tusculum 12-8 in the match, and received two goals apiece from Helen Summerell and Hannah Dunn in the win. The Pioneers have not lost since that match, going 5-0-4 in their final nine matches of the regular season.
The Pioneers finished the regular season with a 9-3-5 record, the fewest losses in a season since 2012 when Tusculum was 12-3-2 in the regular season. The five ties are a single-season program record, breaking the old mark of three ties set in 2001 and equaled in 2006 and 2009.
Tusculum is winless in its last six SAC quarterfinal matches (0-3-3), though the Pioneers did advance on penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 draw with Lenoir-Rhyne in the 2017 quarterfinals. The Pioneers' last opening-round win was a 1-0 victory over Queens in 2013, and Tusculum has not advanced to the finals since 2009 when the Pioneers lost 1-0 to Carson-Newman in the championship match.
Catawba won last year's SAC Championship title with a 1-0 victory over Queens in the final. The victory gave the Indians their seventh SAC tournament championship in school history, but their first since 2002. Catawba would be eliminate on penalty kicks by Lenoir-Rhyne in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Tusculum is led on offensive by freshmen Taylor Youmans and Sydney Grant. Youmans finished the season tied for the team lead with six goals and team bests of seven assists and 19 points, with three of her goals coming as game-winners. Grant had five goals and three assists for 13 points, with 15 of her 19 shots finishing on target.
Senior Brianna Garcia has contributed six goals and five assists for 17 points, with graduate student Rosy Wodhams scoring six goals and adding four assists in her first season with the Pioneers. Senior Bailey Bylotas has added three goals and two assists, with freshman Marja Enste contributing on free and corner kicks with a goal and four assists.
Junior Grayson Patterson has started all 17 games in goal and has a 0.95 goals against average with an .807 save percentage. Patterson recorded seven shutouts during the season and has conceded a total of five goals during the Pioneers' nine-match unbeaten streak.
Catawba led the SAC in scoring in all games (3.44 goals per game) and conference matches (2.82 goals per game), paced by the top two scorers in the conference in Dunn (14 goals, 7 assists) and Summerell (12 goals, 9 assists). Sydney Jimmo has added eight goals and four assists and Kasey Hahn contributed four goals and seven assists for the Indians, who received goals from 17 different players during the season.
Senior goalkeeper Sierra Davis has seven solo shutouts and five combined shutouts this season for Catawba, and has rarely been tested as the five saves she made against Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday were a season high. Four times this season, the Indians held their opponent without a shot on goal.
Saturday's match will be the first postseason contest between Tusculum and Catawba since 2005, when the Pioneers lost 2-0 at home to the Indians in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. The only previous SAC Championship tournament meeting between the two was in 1999, when Catawba beat Tusculum 1-0 in the semifinals at Mars Hill.
The winner of the Tusculum-Catawba match will play in the semifinals against the winner of Saturday's quarterfinal between sixth-seeded Wingate and third-seeded Carson-Newman. The semifinal match will be played Friday, November 4 at 8 p.m. at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the championship match at the same venue on Sunday, November 6 at 4 p.m.
South Atlantic Conference Women's Soccer Championship
Saturday, Oct. 29 (Quarterfinals at Highest Seeds)
Game 1: #8 Newberry at #1 Lenoir-Rhyne, 7:30 p.m.
Game 2: #5 Limestone at #4 Anderson, 5:00 p.m.
Game 3: #7 Tusculum at #2 Catawba, 7:00 p.m.
Game 4: #6 Wingate at #3 Carson-Newman, 5:00 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 4 (Semifinals at American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.)
Game 5: winner game 1 vs. winner game 2, 5:00 p.m.
Game 6: winner game 3 vs. winner game 4, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 6 (Finals at American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.)
Game 7: winner game 5 vs. winner game 6, 4:00 p.m.
