It took nearly two overtime sessions, but the Elon University men’s soccer team beat Wofford College 1-0 in the Southern Conference Tournament championship game to win its third-straight conference title and earn its third-straight berth into the NCAA Tournament.
https://twitter.com/SoConSports/status/402174679420788737
Dealing with a driving rain and a boisterous, pro-Wofford crowd in Greenville, S.C., the Phoenix and Terriers played a hard-fought, tightly contested game that saw both sides have their fair share of chances. It was Phoenix junior forward Jason Waterman, however, that made the most of his opportunity.
Taking a quality through ball from sophomore forward Caue Da Silva in the 102st minute, Waterman dribbled into the right side of the box and hit a low, hard shot past the diving hand of Terriers freshman goalkeeper Garrett Closs and into the left corner of the goal.
Waterman also had a chance to score near the end of the first overtime period, but his shot from just inside the 18-yard box went just wide of the right post.
Waterman, senior defender Nick Butterly, senior midfielder Charles Howard and senior midfielder Daniel Lovitz were selected to the SoCon All-Tournament team. Waterman was selected as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
The win was Phoenix head coach Darren Powell’s 94th of his career at Elon, giving him the most wins in program history after being tied with legendary coach Steve Ballard, the coach from 1978-1987.
Elon's back-to-back-to-back championships mark the second only the second time in conference history that a team has accomplished that feat.
Elon will learn their NCAA tournament fate on Monday, Nov. 18, during the tournament’s selection show. The show can be seen on ncaa.com at noon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms_-r0gcB9M