Women's Soccer Southern Conference

Women's Soccer Championship Bracket Finalized

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Samford downed league-leading Mercer on the final day of the regular season to clinch its second regular-season Southern Conference title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SoCon Women’s Soccer Championship.

The tournament begins Wednesday with a pair of first-round matches on campus sites. The quarterfinal round follows on Nov. 1-2 at campus sites, while the semifinals and championship will be played at Western Carolina’s Catamount Athletic Complex on in Cullowhee, N.C., on Nov. 7 and 9, respectively.

Samford finished the regular season with a 7-2-0 conference mark and 21 points in the league standings, downing Mercer 1-0 on Sunday to hand the Bears their first SoCon defeat. The Bulldogs, whose previous regular-season title came in 2011, will host a quarterfinal match on Saturday, Nov. 1, against the winner of the 8/9 match between VMI and The Citadel.

VMI and The Citadel finished with identical 2-7-0 records in SoCon play, but the Keydets earned the No. 8 seed by virtue of their 3-2 win over the Bulldogs on Sept. 26. The squads will meet in a first-round match in Lexington, Va., on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Furman and Mercer followed Samford in the standings with 20 points on identical 6-1-2 records. Furman and Mercer tied during the regular season, but the Paladins, the defending tournament champions, took the No. 2 seed by virtue of their 1-0 win over Samford on Oct. 17. Furman, which downed VMI 5-0 Sunday to vault from fourth in the standings, will host a quarterfinal match on Sunday, Nov. 2, and awaits the winner of Wednesday’s 7/10 matchup between Wofford and Chattanooga.

The Terriers earned the No. 7 seed with a 3-6-0 SoCon mark, while Chattanooga went 0-9-0 in league play and took the No. 10 seed.

Mercer claimed the No. 3 seed will take on No. 6 seed Western Carolina on Sunday, Nov. 2. The Catamounts finished with a 5-3-1 mark and 16 points.

ETSU, which boasts the nation’s top scoring offense, finished its inaugural SoCon campaign with a 6-3-0 league record for 18 points and the No. 4 seed. Junior Hannah Short scored the Bucs’ first goal in a 3-2 loss to Western Carolina on Sunday, pushing her season total to 24, tying the SoCon’s single-season record, set in 1997.

The Bucs will take on No. 5 seed UNCG on Saturday, Nov. 1. The Spartans finished 5-3-1 in SoCon play and earned the tiebreaker over WCU thanks to their 1-0 win over the Catamounts on Oct. 17.

The tournament winner earns the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship.

2014 SoCon Women’s Soccer Championship

Oct. 29 (Wednesday)
First round (at higher seeds)
Match 1: No. 9 The Citadel at No. 8 VMI, 3 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)
Match 2: No. 10 Chattanooga at No. 7 Wofford, 7 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)

Nov. 1 (Saturday)
Quarterfinal round (at higher seeds)
Match 3: Winner Match 1 at No. 1 Samford, 8 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)
Match 4: No. 5 UNCG at No. 4 ETSU, 5:30 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)

Nov. 2 (Sunday)
Quarterfinal round (at higher seeds)
Match 5: Winner Match 2 at No. 2 Furman, 2 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)
Match 6: No. 6 Western Carolina at No. 3 Mercer, 2 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)

Nov. 7 (Friday)
Semifinals (Catamount Athletic Complex; Cullowhee, N.C.)
Match 7: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 5 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)
Match 8: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6, 7:30 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)

Nov. 9 (Sunday)
Final (Catamount Athletic Complex; Cullowhee, N.C.)
Match 9: Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8, 1 p.m. (ESPN3)

All times Eastern.

-www.SoConSports.com-