#7 Lenoir-Rhyne (6-0-1) vs #25 Wingate (6-1-1)
Sunday April 11 – 5 p.m.
Hickory, N.C.--Moretz Sports Complex
Hickory, N.C.-- No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne will host No.25 Wingate Sunday evening for the 2021 Men's Soccer Spring Championship at Moretz Sport Complex.
This will be the third meeting between these teams this spring. In the first meeting at Wingate, The Bears jumped ahead of the Bulldogs 2-0 but Wingate battled back with two goals in the second half as the teams battled to a 2-2 tie. In the game in Hickory to end the regular season the Bears used a
Noah Tiefel goal to come away with a 1-0 win. With the victory the Bears won the pod over the Bulldogs.
Wingate comes into this game 6-1-1 and the No. 4 seed in the tournament. The Bulldogs took care of No. 5 Limestone 7-1 before taking down No. 1 seed Carson-Newman at their place 2-0. The Bulldogs have won two of the the last three SAC tournaments and are trying to defend their title as the Bulldogs won the 2019 tournament with their 1-0 win over Anderson. Wingate placed a team high five players on the SAC all-conference first team this week including three of the four defender spots.
The Bears enters the championship match for the first time since 2011. The Bears are the No.2 seed and handled No. 7 Queens 5-1 and No. 3 Anderson 1-0 for their path to Sunday's championship match. Bears are lead by the SAC offensive player of the year
Victor Cascon and defensive player of the year
Dani Fernandez. In all the Bears placed six players on the All-conference team this week.
Sunday will mark the first meeting all time for the programs in the SAC title match however this will be their 8th meeting in the tournament through with Wingate holding a 2-4-1 advantage. The Bulldogs will be looking for their sixth SAC tournament title while the Bears will be looking for their fourth title.
