Rock Hill, S.C.----After a scoreless first half, Lenoir-Rhyne University scored three unanswered goals on the way to a 3-1 victory over Wingate University in the championship match of the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference women’s soccer tournament Sunday afternoon at Manchester Meadows. With the victory, the Bears avenge a 1-0 loss to the Bulldogs in the regular season.

Lenoir-Rhyne (16-2-1 overall) advances to the NCAA Division II play-offs with the automatic qualification from the SAC. The SAC tournament title is the first for the Bears. Wingate (13-3-3 overall) will wait to hear from the NCAA selection committee regarding its future. The pairings for the playoffs will be announced Monday evening at 7 p.m., via a webcast selection show on NCAA.com.

L-R got on the board in 55th minute when junior midfielder Kaelia Frazier (Cedar Falls, Iowa) scored her fourth goal on the year on a break-away. The Bears pushed the margin to 2-0 at the 67:38 plateau, when junior forward Laura Linehan (San Diego, Calif.) connected on a chip shot on a pass from the corner by sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Hawes (Valdese, N.C.).

The Bears remained on the attack and added another quick goal. Two-and-a-half minutes later, Hawes also assisted on Lenoir-Rhyne’s third and final goal of the contest when she found senior midfielder Audrey Moore (Dublin, Ireland) for an open goal in the 70th minute. Both Linehan and Moore now have six goals on the year.

Wingate spoiled L-R’s bid for the shutout when junior forward Kelly Adams (Matthews, N.C.) scored from a deflection on a goalkeeper save at the 71:40 mark. The goal was Adams’ fifth of the 2010 season. The Bulldogs kept pushing, but could not capitalize on any additional opportunities.

Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Scruggs (Torrance, Calif.) picked up the win after allowing only one goal while saving seven shots. Wingate’s goalkeeper, sophomore Miriam Boucher (Calgary, Alberta), suffered the setback despite tallying five saves.

Bear junior midfielder Catherine Hauck (Lake Mary, Fla.), the 2010 SAC Player of the Year, was named the tournament Most Valuable Player. Hauck had the only goal in Lenoir-Rhyne’s 1-0 quarterfinal victory over Lincoln Memorial University and added another goal in L-R’s 2-0 semifinal victory over Newberry College.

Joining Hauck on the All-Tournament team from Lenoir-Rhyne are Frazier, Moore and Scruggs. Wingate placed three on the All-Tournament team: Adams, Julie Zielinski (Erie, Pa) and Samantha Baldwin (Stallings, N.C.). Also on the All-Tournament squad were Newberry goalkeeper Megan Hrenchir (Lawrence, Kan.) and defender Cassie Smith (Lyman, S.C) and Tusculum College forward Patience Leonard (Greeneville, Tenn.) and forward Tramicka James (Wilson, N.C.).

Lenoir-Rhyne head coach Adrian Blewitt

“It was a really tight match. At halftime, both teams were playing a little cat and mouse. I thought we could catch them on a counter attack without opening ourselves too much. We had some forwards come on. I thought Elizabeth Hawes was spectacular up front. We took some chances as well and then kind of played straight and narrow for the last 25 minutes and took care of business by doing what we needed to do defensively.”

(On Kaelia Frazier's first goal) “It was obviously a huge goal. We thought it might be a 1-0 game and getting that first goal is a key because both teams have stingy defenses. When she runs at defenders like that, she's pretty unstoppable sometimes.”

(On the play of goalie Caitlin Scruggs) "She’s done very, very well. She’s sometimes looks a bit deceiving. She’s a short goalkeeper but a great shot stopper.”

(On advancing to the NCAA Tournament) “Everything now’s a bonus. But I don’t think there’s anybody there to fear in the region. We’ve seen most of the teams. Anything can happen when you get there. We’re not going there to be happy, we’re going to try to win. We’re going to try and extend this ride as long as we can.”

Wingate head coach Gary Curneen
Post-match interview video from SAC YouTube channel

“We got here with work ethic and determination and the effort and today Lenoir-Rhyne matched those qualities. It was a great game, a credit to them. I think they edged us. It was a good advertisement for the South Atlantic Conference.”

“Goals change games at any level. They got theirs, and we didn’t react well enough to them. We gave it a go, but it was too much work to do.”

(On the 2010 season) “The girls have been fantastic and credit to them and hopefully we can learn from this year. They broke many records this year and we wanted to come here and bring something back to show for our work. But I think they can look back and be very, very proud of what they’ve done and hopefully set ourselves a little higher target next year.”