SUWANEE, Ga. - Trinity claimed its ninth straight SCAC title this weekend wrapping up the regular season with conference wins over DePauw and Centre. Trinity (18-2), the nation's top-ranked team, opens NCAA play at home against Pacific (Ore.) University (14-2-3). The Tigers are making their ninth consecutive appearance in the national tournament under head coach Paul McGinlay.

- AROUND THE SCAC -

Austin College fell to Rhodes and Hendrix each by scores of 2-1 to finish the season with an overall record of 6-8-3 and a SCAC mark of 2-6-2. On Friday the ‘Roos jumped on top of the Lynx on a goal from Chris Melton, but Rhodes scored twice in the final 10 minutes of action to hand Austin College the one goal defeat. On Sunday Hendrix jumped out to a 1-0 lead and built the deficit to two goals on a penalty kick – the second that Austin College surrendered over the weekend – before Melton scored as time expired to make it a 2-1 final. Melton finishes the year with 12 goals to lead the ’Roos, while Grant Gosselin made eight saves over the weekend.

Birmingham-Southern split at home this week, losing a tough 2-1 match to Oglethorpe Friday night, but rebounding with an exciting 3-2 win over Sewanee on Sunday. Against OU, junior Tony Crocker scored the Panthers' lone goal on a penalty kick. Against Sewanee, junior Sean Head and freshman Brynjar Arnason each recorded a goal and an assist. Sophomore Jarred Brookins also recorded a goal, and senior Andrew Stein had an assist as well. BSC wraps up the 2010 season on the road against Berry on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Centre ended the season at home with games against Southwestern University on Friday night and #1 Trinity University on Sunday afternoon. On Friday versus the Pirates, Centre played some good soccer despite dropping the game 3-0 behind a trio of 2nd half goals for Southwestern. Then on Sunday against the #1 Tigers, Centre lost the game 1-0 after giving up a 1st half goal. Despite outshooting Trinity 7-4 in the 2nd half, Centre was unable to capitalize and tie the game. On the season, Centre finishes 11-6-2 overall with a 6-3-2 record and 4th place finish in the SCAC.

Sophomore forward Matt Fechter had a goal and an assist as Colorado College snapped a five-game skid with a 2-1 victory over Hendrix College on Friday. Fechter collected a long crossing pass from freshman midfielder Ben Glass and scored from 15 yards out for his fourth game-winning goal of the season and the fifth of his career. The Tigers tied the game 7:49 into the second half on freshman forward Sean Parham’s fifth goal of the year off a Fechter corner kick. Senior goalkeeper Andy McGhie, who finished with three saves, kept CC’s deficit at one goal when he made a diving stop 4:30 into the second half. Despite a considerable territorial advantage, the Tigers saw their 2010 season come to a disappointing conclusion on Sunday when Rhodes College scored with 1:44 remaining in the second overtime period to escape Stewart Field with a 2-1 victory. Continuing the theme that haunted the young CC side throughout the season, the Tigers were unable to convert on an abundance of scoring chances. Colorado College finished with a 29-14 advantage in total shots, including a 13-8 edge in shots on goal. The lone bright spot in the offensive zone occurred in the 80th minute when sophomore midfielder Nick Lammers tied the game with his first career goal. CC finished the season with a7-9-2 overall record, it’s first sub-500 mark since the 2000 season. Looking ahead to the 2011 campaign, the Tigers could return as many as 25 of the 28 players on this year’s roster.

#11 DePauw finished the regular season at 14-2-2 overall and 8-1-2 in SCAC play after splitting its two weekend contests. The 11th-ranked Tigers lost to top-ranked Trinity, 2-1 and then defeated Southwestern, 2-1. Trinity took a 1-0 lead at 6:46 before DePauw's Stephen Keller tied the contest with a penalty kick at 40:37. Trinity's game-winner came at 58:19. Trinity held an 11-8 advantage in shots, while DePauw led in corners, 3-0. DePauw's Nate Sprenkel posted one save for DePauw. The Tigers took a 2-0 lead over Southwestern on goals by Gary Pett and Kreigh Kamman before the Pirates scored with just over one minute remaining. Southwestern held a 12-11 advantage in shots, while DePauw led in corners, 5-3. DePauw's Sprenkel totaled three saves.

Hendrix wrapped up its 2010 season with a 1-1 SCAC weekend on the road.  The Warriors suffered a heart-breaking 2-1 loss to Colorado College on Friday afternoon and then earned a dominant 2-1 victory over Austin College on Sunday.  Hendrix’s first win in program history over Austin (1-8) improved the Warriors to 8-8-1 overall and 4-6-1 in SCAC action.  The Warriors ended the year 4-1-1 over their last six games.  Hendrix has posted back-to-back .500 or better seasons and their eight wins in 2010 ranks third in program history.  Colorado College’s Sean Parham knotted the game in the 52nd minute and Matt Fechter scored the game-winner in the 76th minute to post a come-from-behind win over Hendrix at Stewart Field.  Sophomore midfielder Dylan Reed netted the Warriors’ lone goal in the 31st minute, his second goal of the season.  Hendrix was outshot 10-3 in the first half and then 8-6 over the last 45 minutes.  Junior goalkeeper Adam Legg started in front of the net and made four saves, however, a collision in the 72nd minute forced Legg out of the contest.  Hendrix subbed in first year keeper Robbie White and four minutes later Colorado netted the game-winner.  Hendrix sophomore forward Connor Silvestri scored a pair of goals and the Warriors put on a defensive showcase to end the 2010 season on a high note Sunday.  Sophomore defender Kevin Gregory and junior forward Duncan Keegan sent Silvestri through for a one-on-one breakaway in the 41st minute and Silvestri beat the keeper with a low shot to the back of the net.  Hendrix would take its 1-0 advantage into the break.  The Warriors would extend their lead in the 74th minute on Silvestri’s fifth penalty-kick goal of the year.  Keegan earned the PK as he was taken down in the box on a breakaway.  The Roos scored their lone goal as time expired on a free kick from just in front of their half of the midfield circle.  The referee called a foul on Hendrix with eight ticks left and immediately stopped the clock to allow Austin a chance to set up for the free kick.  White mishandled the long shot and Austin’s Chris Melton was there to tap in the rebound for the final score.

Millsaps dropped their final two games of the 2010 season this weekend at Harper Davis Field. Friday’s match with Sewanee ended with the Tigers taking the 3-1 victory. Brian Meyers scored the Majors’ goal in the 28th minute. Sunday’s match with Oglethorpe looked much more promising. The Majors led for most of the match. Johannes Schlotmann scored the first goal in the 14th minute on a penalty shot. Phil Guillot connected in the 69th minute on a free kick to maintain the lead after Ben Robertson tied the score in the 24th, but the Petrels came up with two goals in the final minutes of the match to steal the Senior Day win from the Majors. Millsaps closes the season with a 3-15-1 record, ending the season on a nine-game losing streak.

Oglethorpe finished the 2010 season on a high note by earning road victories over Birmingham-Southern (2-1) and Millsaps (3-2). On Friday against the Panthers, The two teams played a scoreless first half before things heated up in the second stanza. The Petrels scored the game's first goal in the 59th minute via a free kick from the foot of Ben Robertson. The Panthers, however, equalized with a strike of their own less than 60 seconds afterwards on a penalty kick in the 60th minute. With the score knotted at one apiece, Oglethorpe earned a free kick from 35 yards out in the 67th minute that Aaron Walker beat the Panther keeper with to earn the game-winner. On Sunday at Millsaps, The Petrels trailed the Majors for most of the contest but got things going late to finish their season on a positive note. Oglethorpe fell behind 1-0 in the 17th minute following a Millsaps goal but equalized on a strike from Ben Robertson in the 24th minute. The score remained knotted at one apiece until the Majors struck in the 69th minute to put the Petrels' backs against the wall. Oglethorpe got the equalizer in the 80th minute when Russell Thompson fed Mark Lavery for the strike. Then, less than two minutes later in the 82nd minute, Thompson scored the game winner off a deft pass from E.J. Ovie-Ogodo to lift the Petrels to the season ending victory. The Petrels outshot the Majors 14-11 and held a 6-1 advantage in corners taken. Oglethorpe finishes the 2010 campaign with an 8-9-1 overall record.
Rhodes went 2-0 over the weekend in SCAC play.  The Lynx traveled to Austin College on Friday.  Despite going down 1-0 in the first half, Rhodes was able to rebound and continued to create multiple opportunities throughout the game.  With 10 minutes left to play in regulation, sophomore Petar Radujkovich was taken down in the box after beating his defender.  Radujkovich regained his composure and tucked away the penalty kick, evening the score at 1-1.  With under a minute to play, freshman defender, Michael Hampl, served a ball into senior forward, Nick Bailey, who headed the ball into the upper corner of the near post, securing the 2-1 win.  Rhodes would then fly to Colorado Springs to take on Colorado College.  The match was tightly contested, as both teams found woodwork in the first half.  The Lynx would get on the scoreboard first, as junior, Charlie Lent, chipped the keeper from distance.  The Tigers would battle back and find the equalizer in the 80th minute.  The game would slip into overtime.  With under 2 minutes remaining in the 2OT, junior, Will Wurster, headed home the game winner off a service from sophomore, Will Cooner, securing 5th place in the SCAC.

Sewanee split its final weekend of contests, topping Millsaps 3-1 on Friday and falling to Birmingham-Southern College 3-2 on Sunday.  Against Millsaps, the Tigers picked up goals from Samuel Edoung-Biyo, Kai Sanders, and Matt Lightfoot on their way to the win. Edoung-Biyo got Sewanee on the board early, but Millsaps’ Brian Meyers quickly even things up at one apiece. Just one minute after Meyers’ equalizer, Sanders broke the tie and scored the eventual game-winner. The Tigers got an insurance goal from Lightfoot early in the second half to make it 3-1. On Sunday, Birmingham-Southern went up 3-1 early in the second half and the Tigers could never overcome the deficit, falling 3-2 and finishing the season with a 4-11-3 overall record. Sewanee got goals from Lightfoot and Will Morgan, but it wasn’t enough as the Panthers picked up the win.

Southwestern wrapped up their record setting conference season this weekend, splitting games at Centre and DePauw to end with a 12-7 overall record, 9-2 in the SCAC. The nine conference wins are the most ever in the history of the program. Friday, the Pirates battled the elements and a tough Centre team that was sitting in fourth place in the conference. After a scoreless first half that saw the two teams nearly equal in shots Southwestern got down to work after the break. The tandem of Alex Keller and Evan Perkins that has been electric all season sparked a scoring spree. Eight minutes into the second half Perkins received a pass from Keller in the middle of the field and put the ball in the back of the net to give SU their first goal. Keller's throw-in went off Centre's keeper to put SU up 2-0 and then Keller scored again off a pass from Perkins for the third and final goal. Southwestern attempted to continue the momentum at third place DePauw on Sunday but the #11 team in the nation had other plans as they scored in the first half and then again in the second. Southwestern was only able to put one goal away late as they ran out of time and fell 2-1. The Pirates will await news on Monday to see if they receive a bid to their first-ever NCAA Tournament after finishing second in the SCAC. Selection is on Monday at 1:00 pm EST.

With the SCAC Championship on the line in the final weekend of the season, the top-ranked Trinity men’s soccer team scored two road victories at DePauw and Centre to clinch the conference title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs. Trinity won its 14th overall SCAC Championship, and its ninth consecutive league title.  In a matchup of two nationally-ranked teams, Trinity edged DePauw 2-1 on Friday night, which clinched the automatic bid to the playoffs and a share of the conference crown. Sunday’s 1-0 over Centre gave Trinity the outright title and an unblemished 11-0 SCAC record this season. The Tigers will make their 14th overall appearance in the NCAA Playoffs, as well as the ninth straight time Trinity has advanced to the postseason.

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