SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Regular-season champion Samford has claimed the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Southern Conference Women’s Soccer Championship after posting an 8-1-0 league mark this season.
The tournament begins Wednesday with a pair of first-round matches on campus sites. The quarterfinal round follows on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at campus sites, while the semifinals and championship will be played at Furman’s Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium on Nov. 6 and 8, respectively.
The Bulldogs clinched their second straight SoCon regular-season title with Friday’s 1-0 win over ETSU before falling 1-0 to Western Carolina on Sunday in their regular-season finale for their first SoCon loss of the season. Samford, which finished the regular season with a 13-5-0 overall mark and 24 points in league play, will face either No. 8 seed Chattanooga or No. 9 seed VMI on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Samford allowed just one goal in SoCon play this season, that coming against the Catamounts on Sunday, setting a league record for fewest goals allowed in league play. The Bulldogs’ new mark eclipses the old record of four, which had been done seven times, most recently by Samford in 2010.
Chattanooga’s Peyton McCollum registered her first career hat trick in a 3-1 win over ETSU on Sunday as the Mocs leapfrogged VMI for eighth in the standings and secured hosting duties in the tournament for the first time ever. UTC went 2-6-1 in SoCon play, edging VMI, which lost 3-1 at UNCG on Sunday to fall to 2-7-0 in the league. The Mocs will host VMI in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Furman scored late to edge Mercer 1-0 on Sunday to lock up the No. 2 seed. The Paladins went 7-1-1 in SoCon play this season and will host the winner of Wednesday’s other first-round match on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 2 p.m.
Wofford, which downed The Citadel 4-0 in Charleston, S.C., on Sunday, earned the No. 7 seed for the second straight year. The Terriers, who went 3-4-2 in the SoCon, will now host the 10th-seeded Bulldogs, who finished 0-9-0 in SoCon play, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. for the right to play the Paladins in the quarterfinals.
UNCG claimed the No. 3 seed, with its victory over VMI on Sunday pushing its league record to 6-2-1. The Spartans will entertain No. 6 seed Western Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2 p.m. After spoiling Samford’s bid for a clean league slate, the Catamounts finished the regular season with a 4-4-1 mark against league foes.
Defending SoCon tournament champion Mercer will enter this season’s tournament as the No. 4 seed after going 5-3-1 in conference play. The Bears will host No. 5 seed ETSU on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 7:30 p.m. The Bucs’ loss to Chattanooga on Sunday dropped their record to 4-4-1 in league action, but ETSU held the tiebreaker for the fifth seed over Western Carolina by virtue of its regular-season win over the Catamounts.
The tournament winner earns the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship. Every match leading up to the final will be broadcast on the SoCon Digital Network, while the final on Sunday, Nov.8, will air live on ESPN3.
2015 SoCon Women’s Soccer Championship
Oct. 28 (Wednesday)
First round (at higher seeds)
Match 1: No. 9 VMI at No. 8 Chattanooga, 6 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)
Match 2: No. 10 The Citadel at No. 7 Wofford, 7 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)
Oct. 31 (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 ETSU at No. 4 Mercer, 7:30 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)
Match 6: No. 6 Western Carolina at No. 3 UNCG, 2 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)
Nov. 1 (Sunday)
Quarterfinal round (at higher seeds)
Match 5: Winner Match 2 at No. 2 Furman, 2 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)
Nov. 6 (Friday)
Semifinals (Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium; Greenville, S.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. 8 (Sunday)
Final (Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium; Greenville, S.C.)
Match 9: Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8, 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
All times Eastern.
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