Women's Soccer 11/5/2015 2:53:00 PM Southern Conference

Women?s soccer tourney shifts to Greenville, S.C.

Women's Soccer Championship page

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference Women’s Soccer Championship moves to Furman’s Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium in Greenville, S.C., this weekend for the semifinal and final matches, beginning Friday at 5 p.m. For the second straight season, each of the top four seeds advanced to the championship weekend, with Samford, Furman, UNCG and Mercer battling for the tournament title and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship.

Both of Friday’s semifinal matches will air live on the SoCon Digital Network, with Chris Edwards and Phil Cox on the call. Sunday’s championship match, set for 1 p.m., will be broadcast live on ESPN3, with Pete Yanity handling play-by-play duties and Charlie Slagle serving as analyst.

Tickets for this weekend’s games can be purchased on FurmanPaladins.com or at the Stone Stadium entrance beginning one hour prior to each day’s competition. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children 4-12 years old. Children 3 and under, as well as students with a valid SoCon school ID, will be admitted for free.

Regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Samford (14-5-0, 8-1-0 SoCon) will take on No. 4 seed Mercer (9-7-3, 5-3-1 SoCon) at 5 p.m. Friday in a rematch of last season’s title game, won by Mercer. The Bulldogs, who topped No. 9 seed VMI 3-0 in the quarterfinal round of this year’s tournament, downed the Bears in the regular season by a 1-0 count on Oct. 4. Mercer, which will look for its second tournament title in as many seasons in the league, punched its ticket to the semifinals with a 3-2 win over No. 5 seed ETSU during quarterfinal play.

Including this season, Samford is 8-5-2 in eight tournament appearances, reaching the semifinals seven times and winning the title in 2011. Mercer went 3-0 last year in its inaugural SoCon tournament.

No. 2 seed Furman (15-4-1, 7-1-1 SoCon) will face No. 3 seed UNCG (9-8-3, 6-2-1 SoCon) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a battle of two of the most storied programs in league history. The squads have combined for 12 tournament titles, with UNCG owning a league-record seven and Furman second with five. The Paladins and Spartans have met nine times in tournament play, with UNCG holding the 5-3-1 advantage. The teams have met five times in the final, with UNCG winning four of those bouts, and four times in the semis, with Furman boasting the 2-1-1 edge. The pair last met in the tournament in 2008, playing to a scoreless draw in the semifinals. UNCG advanced in penalty kicks, 4-2.

The Paladins earned their spot in this year’s semis with a 3-0 win over No. 7 seed Wofford, with senior Stephanie DeVita, who recently became just the third player in SoCon history to earn first-team all-conference honors four times, netting a hat trick. Furman will be making its league-record 19th semifinals appearance and fifth straight. The Paladins are 33-12-3 all-time in SoCon tournament play. This year marks their 21st appearance.

UNCG topped No. 6 seed Western Carolina 3-1 in the quarterfinals to earn its 13th semifinals trip. The Spartans, who are back in the final weekend of play for the first time since 2010, are 27-9-4 all-time in 19 tournament appearances.

Furman and UNCG played to a scoreless draw in Greenville on Oct. 2 of this season.

The winner of this year’s tournament will receive the SoCon’s automatic bid to the NCAA postseason. The NCAA Selection Show will air on NCAA.com on Monday, Nov. 9, at 4:30 p.m.

2015 SoCon Women’s Soccer Championship

Oct. 28 (Wednesday)

First round (at higher seeds)

Match 1: No. 9 VMI 0, No. 8 Chattanooga 0 (2OT, VMI advances in PKs, 3-2)

Match 2: No. 7 Wofford 3, No. 10 The Citadel 0

Oct. 31 (Saturday)

Quarterfinal round (at higher seeds)

Match 3: No. 1 Samford 3, No. 9 VMI 0

Match 4: No. 4 Mercer 3, No. 5 ETSU 2

Match 6: No. 3 UNCG 3, No. 6 Western Carolina 1

Nov. 1 (Sunday)

Quarterfinal round (at higher seed)

Match 5: No. 2 Furman 3, No. 7 Wofford 0

Nov. 6 (Friday)

Semifinals (Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium; Greenville, S.C.)

Match 7: No. 1 Samford vs. No. 4 Mercer, 5 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)

Match 8: No. 2 Furman vs. No. 3 UNCG, 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.

-www.SoConSports.com-

Southern Conference Women’s Soccer

702 N. Pine Street ? Spartanburg, SC 29303

864-591-5100 ? 864-591-3448 (Fax)

www.SoConSports.com

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 5, 2015

Contact: Phil Perry (pperry@socon.org)

SoCon Women’s Soccer Championship Shifts to Greenville, S.C.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference Women’s Soccer Championships moves to Furman’s Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium in Greenville, S.C., this weekend for the semifinal and final matches, beginning Friday at 5 p.m. For the second straight season, each of the top four seeds advanced to the championship weekend, with Samford, Furman, UNCG and Mercer battling for the tournament title and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship.

The Paladins earned their spot in this year’s semis with a 3-0 win over No. 7 seed Wofford, with senior Stephanie DeVita, who recently became just the third player in SoCon history to earn first-team all-conference honors four times, netting a hat trick. Furman will be making its league-record 19^th semifinals appearance and fifth straight. The Paladins are 33-12-3 all-time in SoCon tournament play. This year marks their 21^st appearance.

UNCG topped No. 6 seed Western Carolina 3-1 in the quarterfinals to earn its 13^th semifinals trip. The Spartans, who are back in the final weekend of play for the first time since 2010, are 27-9-4 all-time in 19 tournament appearances.