SAC Tournament Championship Central   

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs finished the SAC regular season alone in second place, earning the number two seed in this week's Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men's soccer tournament. The Bulldogs will host seventh-seeded Anderson Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. Free HD video will be available for Tuesday's match, along with live stats.

Wingate, ranked 23rd in the most recent NSCAA Top 25, finished the regular season 11-4-1 overall and 8-2-1 in the SAC. Anderson was 10-5-3 overall and 4-5-2 in the conference.

The Bulldogs and Trojans meet in the SAC Tournament quarterfinals for the third consecutive year. Fifth-seeded Anderson defeated the fourth-seeded Bulldogs 1-0 at Wingate last season. The Trojans would go on to win their third consecutive SAC Tournament title. Wingate would go on to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, winning the regional title and advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.

Wingate and Anderson met in the SAC Tournament quarterfinals during the 2011 season, when top-seeded Anderson hosted the eighth-seeded Bulldogs. Wingate had a 1-0 lead in the second half, but Anderson scored two goals in the final 20 minutes to avoid the upset en route to the SAC championship.

The Bulldogs have not defeated Anderson since 2010, when Wingate won 2-1 at home in overtime. The Bulldogs and Trojans would go on to meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2010, with Anderson winning 2-0 at Wingate. Since Anderson joined the SAC in 2010, the Trojans are 5-1-1 against Wingate, going 2-0 against the Bulldogs in the SAC Tournament.

Wingate and Anderson played just nine days ago, with the match ending in a 0-0 tie. The contest featured a combined 37 shots, with Wingate holding a slight 20-17 advantage. The Trojans held a 5-4 edge in shots on goal. Wingate senior Daniel DeGraff (Statesville, N.C.) had five saves, while Bo Haug registered four saves for the Trojans.

The 23rd-ranked Bulldogs have only one loss in their last seven games this year. Wingate was ranked fifth in last week's NCAA Southeast regional poll. The Bulldogs concluded their regular season with a 1-0 victory at Lincoln Memorial Saturday, getting a goal from senior defender Gui Andrade (Sao Paulo, Brazil) with under 10 minutes remaining in regulation.

Wingate rebounded from a loss at 12th-ranked Lander with a 2-0 victory over Queens on Oct. 23. Junior forward Peron Da Silva (Sao Paulo, Brazil) scored 5:43 into the contest, while freshman forward Charlie Machell (Newcastle, England) added a goal 22 minutes later to make it 2-0. That match was followed by the 0-0 tie against Anderson and the 1-0 win at LMU.

The Bulldogs are 3-0-1 in their last four matches, all of which have been started by DeGraff. Wingate has not allowed a goal in 317 minutes of action. DeGraff is 6-1-1 on the year with four shutouts, allowing only six goals in 798 minutes. He leads the league with a 0.68 goals against average and .829 save percentage.

Da Silva leads the team and ranks fifth in the SAC with 10 goals this season. He also has two assists, ranking seventh in the league with 22 points. Sophomore midfielder Shaun Gadsby (Newcastle, England) has six goals and five assists on the season, ranking sixth in the conference in assists, ninth in points and 11th in goals. Machell is 15th in the conference with five goals.

Wingate is third in the SAC with 2.1 goals per game, ranking second with a 1.03 goals against average. The Bulldogs lead the league with 16.75 shots per game. Wingate is the only team in the conference to allow less than a goal per game during SAC contests, holding league opponents to 0.78 goals per game.

The winner of the Wingate-Anderson contest will face the winner of the Carson-Newman vs. Mars Hill match. That semifinal contest will take place at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.C. Friday at 4 p.m. The SAC Championship is Sunday at 1 p.m. in Rock Hill.

2013 Food Lion SAC Men's Soccer Championship Schedule

Quarterfinals – Nov. 5 (at higher seed)
7:30 p.m. No. 8 Catawba at No. 1 Queens
6:30 p.m. No. 7 Anderson at No. 2 Wingate
1:00 p.m. No. 6 Mars Hill at No. 3 Carson-Newman
12:30 p.m. No. 5 Coker at No. 4 Lincoln Memorial

Semifinals – Nov. 8 (at Rock Hill, S.C.)
4 p.m. Catawba-Queens winner vs. Coker-LMU winner vs. QF 4 winner, 4 p.m.
4 p.m. Anderson-Wingate winner vs. Mars Hill-CN winner

SAC Championship – Nov. 10 (at Rock Hill, S.C.)
1 p.m. Semifinal winners

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Wingate University, ranked as the 8th "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,000 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 37 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration, and doctorates in pharmacy, physical therapy and education.
 
With a 14 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity. 
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past seven years. For more information, go to www.wingate.edu.
 
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing private colleges in the 2000's with 57 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate's 57 Academic All-America® honorees are number one during this millennium. Wingate's 66 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among all SAC schools. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.