(7) UNC Greensboro 2, (2) Furman 1

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Jokull Elisabetarson’s second half strike from the midfield circle proved to be the difference as seventh-seeded UNC Greensboro upset second-seed Furman 2-1 in Southern Conference Tournament first round action Saturday afternoon at Stone Stadium.

The Spartans improved to 7-11-1 and advanced to face the winner of Sunday’s Georgia Southern versus Davidson contest next Friday in Davidson, N.C.

UNCG grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute when a Furman defender inadvertently redirected a Spartan corner into the net for an own goal.

Furman appeared to have answered minutes later, but Jonathan Collier’s header off of a Patrick Murray corner was waved off for offsides.

Elisabetarson gave UNCG a 2-0 lead at 51:40 when the midfielder collected the ball in the center circle and drove a wind-aided shot over the head of Paladin keeper Josh Zimmer into the back of the net for his third goal of the season.

Furman created several chances in the final 35 minutes of play as Andrew Krysiak and Patrick White both had one versus one chances with Spartan keeper Nate Berry, but both missed wide left.  Caleb Suri put the Paladins on the board with a 25-yard shot at 78:20 to help Furman avoid the shutout.

The Paladins held a 17-13 edge in shots attempts and 7-5 advantage in shots on goal.  Berry stopped six shots to earn the victory for UNCG while Zimmer recorded two saves for Furman.

The Paladins conclude their season at 11-8-1.

(1) Elon 3, (8) Wofford 0

ELON, N.C. - Justin Wyatt, the 2008 Southern Conference Player of the Year, scored his team-leading 12th goal of the season and assisted on two more scores, while teammate Steven Kinney recorded two assists to lead the top-seeded Elon Phoenix to a 3-0 victory over the eighth-seeded Wofford Terriers in the first round of the 2008 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Tournament from Rudd Field on Saturday night.  The game was played in front of a Rudd Field record crowd of 1,107.

Elon (10-8-1) got on the board quickly, needing just 1:32 to grab a 1-0 advantage.  The goal was set up when Wyatt took a corner which sailed across the goal to Kinney's head.  Kinney's header found the foot of Erfan Imeni who banged home his fifth goal of the season.

The Phoenix pushed its lead to 2-0 at 15:38.  Aaron Parker played a ball to Wyatt who touched the ball back to Parker.  Parker then ripped a shot from the left side of the goal mouth to the far right side for his seventh tally of his senior campaign.

Wyatt, who scored at least one goal in every league game this year, netted Elon's final goal of the game.  Kinney played a long ball to Daniel Street who carried the ball forward.  Street connected with a streaking Wyatt who sent home his 12th goal of the year.

Elon's Clint Irwin needed to make just one save on the night.  That save was a big one, however.  With the Phoenix up 1-0, Wofford was awarded a penalty kick following an Elon foul.  Nick Schuermann's PK attempt was denied by a sprawling Irwin to preserve the lead.  The shutout was the fourth of the year for the sophomore keeper.  It was also the ninth blanking of his career, the fifth-most ever for an Elon keeper.

Wofford's Joey Taylor stopped five shots.

Elon advances to the SoCon semifinals for the third time in Powell's four seasons as head coach.   The Phoenix will take on fifth-seeded College of Charleston at 4:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon in Davidson, N.C.  

(5) College of Charleston 3, (4) Appalachian State 2 (OT)

BOONE, N.C.- Kareem Yearwood scored with 2:16 left in overtime to give College of Charleston a 3-2 win over Appalachian State Saturday night at the Appalachian Soccer Stadium.

Zach Prince's throw in landed in the box where Gus Teren tapped a pass to Yearwood who beat ASU keeper Drake Branson to the left for the game-winner. With the win, CofC will play Elon in the semi-finals, who was a 3-0 winner over Wofford.

Appalachian held leads of 1-0 and 2-1, despite missing three starters, and losing a fourth due to injury with 30 minutes remaing in the second half.

The Mountaineers got on the board first when Josh Burge fed Arie Muniz with a pass in the middle of the field and Muniz fired a shot just outside the box and beat the keeper to the left. The goal was Muniz's fourth of the season, while the assist was Burge's second.

The Cougars scored just seven minutes later when Prince sent a long pass from the left side of teh field to Matt Morris, who snuck behind the defense. Morris was able to put it past Branson for his seventh goal of the season and tie the score at one headed into halftime.

The Mountaineers fought back again when Ryan Duffy scored with a diving header off an Muniz free kick. The goal came on the first ever shot of Duffy's career and gave Appalachian a 2-1 advantage. The assist gives Muniz the conference lead with seven.

CofC scored six minutes later off a free kick of their own. Prince laid a ball in the middle of the box that was headed into the left corner of the net by Teren. The goal was also Teren's first of the season.

Appalachian outshot CofC 13-9, while CofC had a slight edge in corner kicks at 3-2. Branson, who was making his first start of the season, finished the match with one save, while Clark Hankins finished with three.

The Mountaineers end the season with a 10-8 record and finished 4-4 in the SoCon.