BOONE, N.C. - With 3:26 remaining in the first overtime, UNCG's Fannar Arnarsson scored the game-winner from five yards outside of the box, advancing the top-seeded Spartans past fifth-seeded Appalachian State, 2-1, and into the 2011 Southern Conference Championship game Sunday afternoon at ASU Soccer Stadium.
UNCG (10-7-2) advances to Sunday's championship match against either Furman or Elon with kick off set for 1 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
The teams battled back-and-forth throughout the game as the game remained scoreless in the first half.
The fifth-seeded Mountaineers (10-5-4) started the scoring early in the second half. Harrison Delbridge scored his third goal of the season off of a Sean Dreybus corner kick. With the goal, the Mountaineers ended UNCG's 553-minute shut-out streak.
Four minutes later, UNCG's Hakan Ilhan tied the game with a header from eight yards out. The goal, Ilhan's 10th of the season, was assisted by Will Mack.
With 17:30 remaining, Appalachian State goalkeeper Danny Free made a diving save, stopping a header from Ilhan. Free made another save with less than one minute left in regulation, pushing the first semifinal game into overtime.
Ilhan was also credited with a save on Arnarsson's game-winner as he dropped the ball back in place for the blast.
Free recorded three saves for ASU while the Spartans' Peyton Ford was credited with four stops on the evening.
The Spartans advance to the SoCon championship match for the 10th time in 14 tournaments since joining the conference.