Manchester Meadows to host SAC tourneys

By Karl Lyles - klyles@heraldonline.com

The South Atlantic Conference men's and women's soccer tournament semifinals and championship will be played at Manchester Meadows soccer complex in Rock Hill today and Sunday.

The men's semifinals will start at 3 p.m. on the two turf fields today. Tusculum, the defending SAC champion, takes on the top-seeded Carson-Newman Eagles, and second-seeded Wingate takes on Mars Hill.

The Eagles' Robert Hill leads the league with 16 goals this season. Wingate's Luke Mulholland has netted 15 goals and seven game-winners.

The women's semifinals will start at 6 p.m. today with top-seed and defending champ Carson-Newman facing the Catawba Indians. Tusculum plays sixth-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne in the other semifinal.

Lenoir-Rhyne has the top offensive players in the conference. Elizabeth Hawes leads the SAC in points (41) and goals (17). Carson-Newman and Catawba have two of the best goal keepers in the conference. The Eagles' Lauren McKenzie and Indians' keeper Lindsay Webster have goals-against averages of 0.67 and 0.69, respectively.

Both Carson-Newman teams are nationally ranked. The women's team is ranked 11th, and the men are 15th among Division II schools.

The men's championship will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday with the women's championship at 4 p.m.

Admission is $5 for adults and $2 college students and children.

The SAC has been a Division II college conference since 1993. The SAC has nine member institutions, and the conference office is located in Rock Hill.