Greeneville, Tenn.----Wingate University senior midfielder Filipe Checcco (Brotas, Brazil) scored with just over three minutes remaining in regulation Saturday night, giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 victory on a rainy evening at Tusuclum College in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer action. Wingate wins its fourth straight SAC title, finishing the regular season at 11-4-1 overall and 8-1-1 in the SAC, while the Pioneers fall to 2-8-6 overall and 2-4-4 in league play. The Bulldogs have now won eight regular season SAC championships all-time.

The first half went scoreless, with Wingate holding a 3-1 advantage in shots, with Tusculum collecting the lone shot on goal.

The Bulldogs got on the board three minutes into the second half. Sophomore Elliot Cutts (London, England) scored his team-best 11th goal of the year, getting a feed from Checco at the top of the box and beating the keeper to make it 1-0.

Tusculum tied it in the 71st minute when Ayuk Tambe converted a penalty kick to make it 1-1.

Wingate had the answer in the 87th minute. Checco took the ball from a slipping Tusculum defender just outside the box, then beat the charging keeper to give the 'Dogs the late 2-1 advantage. It was the fifth goal of the year for Checco.

Each team registered seven shots on the evening, with Tusculum holding a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Pablo Jara (Santiago, Chile) had three saves for the Bulldogs, while Alejandro Quiriti registered one save for the Pioneers.

Wingate is the number one seed in the SAC Tournament, which begins Tuesday with the Bulldogs hosting eighth-seeded Newberry at 7:30 p.m. The winner of that match advances to the semifinals Friday afternoon in Rock Hill, S.C.