Greensboro downs Bishops to win tournament championship

Rocky Mount, NC - The second-seeded Pride of Greensboro College avenged its regular season loss to top-seeded North Carolina Wesleyan by downing the Bishops, 2-1, to take home the 2005 USA South Tournament Championship trophy.  Greensboro receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, while at 14-5, Wesleyan will have to hope for an at-large bid.  After the match, six Pride players and four Bishops were named to the '05 All-Tournament squad.

The Pride got on the board first with a goal at 29:40 by Ben Norman.  After Bishop goalie Jeff Johnson made a great save on a Robert Fricke shot, Norman touched home the deflection to put GC on top at 1-0 going into intermission.

The second half saw Greensboro up its lead to 2-0 on a crafty goal by Eric Hatchett at  55:12.  Hatchett dribbled through three Wesleyan defenders and beat Johnson one-on-one.

Wesleyan answered quickly less than two minutes later when USA South Rookie of the Year Philipp Lyding blasted home a free kick for the Bishops' first score with a little over 30 minutes remaining.  

NCWC had several opportunities to net the equalizer down the stretch, but Pride goalie Matt Brown collected two of his seven saves to secure the championship win.  Johnson had four saves for the Bishops.

For the game, Wesleyan outshot Greensboro 20-8.  GC's Hatchett was named tournament MVP for his game-winning goal.

Below is the entire 2005 All-Tournament team.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Eric Hatchett - GC

FORWARDS
Salvador Benitez, Jr. - NCWC
Jon Dyer - NCWC
Ben Norman - GC
Derek Shaw - CNU

MIDFIELDERS
Richard Engel - GC
Robert Fricke - GC
Philipp Lyding - NCWC

DEFENDERS
Tony Falvino - GC
Chris Forcum - NCWC

GOALKEEPER
Matt Brown - GC