Wesleyan and CNU tie, Bishops to host USAC Tournament

Rocky Mount, NC - Behind a goal and two assists by junior Edgar Zaldivar(pictured), the Battling Bishop men's soccer team of North Carolina Wesleyan fought to a 3-3 double overtime tie with Christopher Newport on Saturday afternoon at Scalf Field. The tie secures the second USA South regular season championship in the past three years for the Captains, who finished their league slate with a 5-0-1 mark and will enter tournament play with a 13-3-3 overall record. The Bishops end the regular season with a 13-3-1 record and finish second in the league at 4-1-1.

The Captains took a quick 2-0 lead with two goals in the first 10 minutes of play. The first came on a header by Jimmy Hash from Kevin Greenberg, while the second was off the foot of Winston Mattheisen.

Wesleyan responded with scores by Zaldivar and Arkadiusz Trochowski in the 23rd and 30th minutes, respectively.  Junior Jimmy Pierce assisted on the first, while Owen White and Zaldivar assisted on the second. CNU's Casey Glancy later scored on Brian Tweed corner kick with 6:30 left in the period to give the Captains a 3-2 lead at intermission.

In the second half, NCWC's Danny Persson notched the equalizer at the 58:20 mark on Zaldivar's second assist of the contest. The Bishops got a scare late in the period when CNU looked to take a 4-3 lead on a goal by Clif Kipper, but an offsides call kept the 3-3 tie in tact.

Each keeper made one save in overtime as neither offense could mount a substantial threat. CNU's Matt Tengs finished with two saves on 16 shots, while NCWC's Alberto Faisca shutout the Captains for the 65 minutes he spent in goal, tallying four saves.

Conference policy states that if the situation develops that the #1 seeded teams for both men and women are from the same institution, which is Christopher Newport this season, the women’s team will host in an even calendar year. The ruling further states that the second-seeded men's team, which is North Carolina Wesleyan, will then have the opportunity to host.

The Bishops, therefore, will once again welcome their USA South counterparts next Friday and Saturday to Scalf Field for the semifinals and finals of 2008 USA South Men's Soccer Tournament. Top-seeded CNU and 2nd-seeded NCWC will receive byes in Tuesday's first round play. Wesleyan will face the winner of #3 Methodist and #6 Ferrum on 11:30 a.m. Friday. CNU will then face #4 Greensboro or #5 Shenandoah at 2:30 p.m.  The championship match will be Saturday at 2:00 p.m. with the winner receiving the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Both the semifinals and finals will feature live webcasts and statistics. The North Carolina Wesleyan Sports Information Office will release a tournament website on Wednesday that will feature access to these links.
 

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