Four Teams Converge on Greensboro to Crown 2011 Champion
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The 2011 Southern Conference Women's Soccer Championship semifinals and championship will take place this weekend at the UNCG Soccer Stadium on the campus of UNCG in Greensboro, N.C.
Samford (12-5-2, 9-0-2), the SoCon regular season champion, enters the weekend as the tournament's top seed as well as the league's hottest team. The Bulldogs have won eight straight matches and are unbeaten in their last 12. Samford, which outlasted Western Carolina for a 2-1 win in the quarterfinals, will face No. 5 seed Furman in Friday's first semifinal at 5 p.m. ET.
The Paladins (12-7-2, 6-3-1) went on the road and defeated Davidson, 2-1, eliminating the Wildcats from the event for the third time in the past five seasons. Samford edged Furman, 2-1 in double overtime, in the teams' previous meeting on Oct. 9.
Friday's second semifinal, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET, features third-seeded College of Charleston (12-7-1, 7-3-1) against seventh-seeded Georgia Southern (7-10-2, 4-6-1).
The Cougars, who defeated Georgia Southern 2-1 in Statesboro on Oct. 16, handled Elon 3-0 Sunday in the quarterfinals. Charleston boasts the conference's top-scoring offense entering the weekend with 40 goals on the season.
Under the direction of rookie head coach Lindsey Vanderspiegel, Georgia Southern upset defending tournament champion UNCG, 2-1, last weekend to move on to the semifinals for the first time since 2006.
College of Charleston, Georgia Southern and Samford are each in search of their first SoCon Tournament crown while Furman is looking to add its fifth title.
Both of Friday's matches will be streamed free of charge at SoConSports.com with Ran Northam on the call.
The championship match will pit the semifinal winners Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET. That match will be broadcast on ESPN3 with Darren Goldwater handling the play-by-play and legendary former Davidson head coach Charlie Slagle providing the color commentary.
The winner of the tournament will earn the Southern Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. The NCAA selection show will air Monday, Nov. 7 on NCAA.com at 4:30 p.m. ET.
November 4 (Friday)
SoCon Women's Soccer Championship
Semifinals (at Greensboro, N.C.)
#1 Samford vs. #5 Furman TV-SoConSports.com, 5 p.m.
#3 College of Charleston vs. #7 Georgia Southern TV-SoConSports.com, 7:30 p.m.
November 7 (Sunday)
SoCon Women's Soccer Championship
Championship (at Greensboro, N.C.) TV-ESPN3, 1 p.m.