ROCK HILL, S.C. - A pair of goals in a three-minute span late in the second half lifted the top-seeded Anderson men's soccer team to a 2-0 win past fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial in semifinal round action of the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament Friday afternoon at the Manchester Meadows Soccer Complex.
Anderson (16-3), ranked 11th in the latest NCSAA poll, stayed undefeated in five SAC tournament games over the last two years and will be making their second straight appearance in the tournament title contest on Sunday afternoon. The Trojans also set a new school record for wins in single season by winning their third straight match and 14 of their last 15.
Lincoln Memorial had its season end at 7-7-3.
The two teams battled to a stalemate through nearly 74 minutes of play, but two-time SAC Player of the Year Lasse Sohrweide put the Trojans on the scoreboard when his free kick following an LMU foul ricocheted off the crossbar into the net at 73:58.
Ironically, it was Sohrweide's second-half goal that provided the winning margin in the Trojans' 1-0 regular-season win past the Railsplitters.
First team All-SAC selection and Freshman of the Year, Mario Pinto tried to answer for the Railsplitters at the 75:36 mark, but his header was corralled by AU goalkeeper Lukas Hesse and AU freshman Tapiwa Munetsi followed with his seventh goal of the season a little more than a minute later after taking a pass from Sohrweide, with his shot settling in the lower right corner of the net to give the Trojans a 2-0 lead.
The Trojans attacked early in the match, firing the contest's first four shots - all occurring inside the opening 12 minutes of action. Senior first-team all-conference selection Mark Smith rattled off a pair of attempts in the ninth and 11th minutes, while freshman Rakeem Deshields and Sohrweide each recorded shots inside the next two minutes, but were unable to convert.
LMU notched three shots in the final eight minutes, but the Railsplitters came up empty on each attempt, with Hesse recording two saves.
Anderson outshot Lincoln Memorial, 11-9, while LMU held a 6-5 advantage in shots on goal on the afternoon. AU recorded a 2-1 edge in corner kicks.
Hesse collected six saves and LMU goalkeeper Michael Watkins notched three.
The Trojans will continue their quest for a second consecutive SAC Tournament title when they No. 7 seed Lenoir Rhyne for the championship at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Bear upset third-seeded Catawba, 2-0, Friday afternoon.
