GREENVILLE, S.C. – Elon’s Jason Waterman scored in the 103rd minute to lift the second-seeded Phoenix to its third straight Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Championship title on Sunday at Furman’s Stone Stadium, 1-0 over No. 1 seed Wofford.

With its win, Elon (15-4-2) earned the SoCon’s automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship. The Phoenix will learn its postseason fate Monday, as the NCAA Selection Show will air on NCAA.com at noon.

In a rainy defensive stalemate between the two top-scoring teams in the SoCon, Waterman scored the only goal of the match in the second overtime period as the Phoenix became just the second team in league history to win the title three consecutive times, joining Furman, which did so from 1999-2001.

With just 7:12 left before the match would have gone to penalty kicks, Elon sophomore Caue Da Silva found a streaking Waterman with a through ball near the top of the 18-yard box. Waterman raced in and beat Wofford keeper Garrett Closs one-on-one, finishing to the lower left corner for his second goal of the tournament.

Waterman’s heroics earned him tournament Most Outstanding Player honors.

The teams played in a steady rain from halftime on, and while the match was scoreless prior to Waterman’s decisive strike, it was not without drama. Just moments before the Elon goal, Wofford (11-7-1) had its own chance to claim the win, as Connor Copeland’s header skipped just wide of the left post on the other end of the field.

With just 35 seconds left in the first overtime, Elon’s Miguel Salazer found Waterman with a through ball all alone inside the 18-yard box, but Waterman pushed his attempt past a charging Closs wide of the right post.

Regulation also saw decent scoring opportunities for each side. Wofford’s best came in the 63rd minute, when  Chase West sent a cross into the box from the left side and Copeland put a diving header on the ball only to see it go wide to keep the game scoreless.

Elon’s James Brace found Da Silva on a breakaway in the 68th minute, but Closs came off his line and got just enough of the ball as Da Silva tried to get past him to break up the play.

The best scoring chance in the opening frame came in the 32nd minute, when Elon’s Matt Wescoe put his strike from 15 yards out off the right post. Brace, who had found Wescoe with the pass on the shot, chased down the rebound on the left side of the box and curled a bending right-footed blast just inches wide of the right post and out of play.

Closs and Elon keeper Nathan Dean finished with two saves each.

With the win, SoCon Coach of the Year Darren Powell became Elon's all-time winningest coach with 94 career victories at the helm for the Phoenix.

The match was the first SoCon final to be decided in overtime since 2007 and just the fourth overall. The game was also just moments from becoming the first SoCon final to go to penalty kicks since 1990.

Elon’s Nick Butterly, Charles Howard and Daniel Lovitz joined Waterman on the all-tournament team, while Connor Davis, Carlos Dominguez Gonzalez and Billy Padula represented Wofford on the squad. Furman’s Marco Ortiz and Kevin Pahl and Georgia Southern’s Witt Carlisle and Hunter Norton were also on the all-tournament team.

2013 SoCon Men’s Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team
Marco Ortiz, Furman
Kevin Pahl, Furman
Witt Carlisle, Georgia Southern
Hunter Norton, Georgia Southern
Connor Davis, Wofford
Carlos Dominguez Gonzalez, Wofford
Billy Padula, Wofford
Nick Butterly, Elon
Charles Howard, Elon
Daniel Lovitz, Elon
Jason Waterman, Elon

Most Outstanding Player
Jason Waterman, Elon


Semifinals, Friday, Nov. 15
Greenville, S.C.
Semifinal 1 – No. 2 seed Elon 5, No. 6 seed Georgia Southern 1
Semifinal 2 – No. 1 seed Wofford 2, No. 4 seed Furman 1

Championship, Sunday, Nov. 17
Greenville, S.C.
No. 2 seed Elon 1, No. 2 seed Wofford 0 (2OT)