ROCK HILL, S.C. - Junior Martin Brain knocked in a 62nd minute penalty kick, as seventh-seeded Anderson University men's soccer eliminated sixth-seeded Mars Hill 1-0 to advance to the 2013 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference final on Sunday at Manchester Meadows.
Brain continued his scoring spree after scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 win over third-seeded Wingate in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. The win increases AU's SAC tournament record to 11-0 all-time and continues Anderson's search for a fourth straight conference tournament championship. Overall, the Trojans are 12-5-3 overall.
After the teams went into halftime scoreless, AU forward Aaron Robinson got by the MHU backline and was taken down in the Lion box. Brain stepped up and pushed a shot in the left corner for the match's first goal.
Anderson's backline contained the Mars Hill attack for the reminder of the match, limiting the Lions to just four shots for the final 28 minutes. Freshman goalkeeper Bo Haug made just one save for the rest of the match.
Despite the win, Anderson was outshot by the Lions, 13-10. Pacing the Trojans on shots with a trio of attackers, as Brain, redshirt sophomore Andre Carle and redshirt freshman Alex Delpy each had three for the night. Carle, Brain and graduate student Bernd Muxel each troubled MHU goalkeeper Chris Mitchell once.
Mitchell's counterpart, Haug, recorded five saves on the afternoon and his sixth shutout of the season. Haug now has back-to-back clean sheets for the tournament, making 11 saves in the last two contests. With the victory, the freshman is now 11-5-3 on the season.
"Tonight was a hard fought win for us, tournament games are usually awkward and this was no exception," head coach John Murphy said. "We started slowly, which gave Mars Hill an advantage, but in the second half we came out brighter and had movement of the ball. We defended well and Haug made some good saves. We have to recover prepare mentality and physically for, what should be, an exciting final against Queens."
The win advances AU to Sunday's conference championship match against top-seeded Queens, which knocked off fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial 4-1 in the other semifinal. Kickoff from Manchester Meadows is set for 1 p.m.
