Emmanuel, Lees-McRae Advance in Men’s Soccer Championship

10/26/2022 10:12:48 PM

Mount Olive/Banner Elk, N.C. – The 2022 Conference Carolinas Men’s Soccer Championship kicked off on Wednesday night and sixth-seeded Lees-McRae and eighth-seed Emmanuel each advanced to the second round.

In Mount Olive, the Lions (6-7-2) upset fifth-seeded Mount Olive (9-6-2), 2-0, with a pair of goals in the final nine minutes of play. The teams were scoreless through the first 81 minutes until Alexander Panner found Rafael Calderon at 81:30 for the go-ahead score. Less than five minutes later, Lucas Pollacchi added insurance on a pass from Alberto Hernandez Meca for the 2-0 margin. Emmanuel outshot Mount Olive 13-10 in the contest including a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal. Rodrigo De La Terga earned the win in net for the Lions as he made three saves in the contest.

Emmanuel will travel to face No. 4 Chowan on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. in Murfreesboro, North Carolina.

In Banner Elk, the Bobcats (8-2-7) defeated seventh-seeded Barton (5-7-4), 1-0, on a Fletcher Dyson tally at the 81:17 mark. The sophomore midfielder drilled a free kick from 20-yards out into the upper right 90 to send Lees-McRae to the second round. It was an otherwise fairly even contest as LMC held a slim 13-12 edge in shots, but put six on frame to just one for the Bulldogs. Lees-McRae also had 10 corner kicks to two for Barton. The Bulldogs goalkeeper Steingrimur Gunnarsson made five saves in the contest while Joshua Garvilla made one stop for the Bobcats.

Lees-McRae will travel to Tigerville, South Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 29 to face No. 3 North Greenville in the second round at 7:30 p.m.

Fans can watch every game of the tournament live via the Conference Carolinas Digital Network and BlueFrame at conferencecarolinasdn.com. Information regarding the championship schedule, bracket and the Truist Soccer Complex at Bryan Park are available here.

2022 Conference Carolinas Men’s Soccer Championship
First Round – Wednesday, October 26 (Higher Seed Hosts)
#8 Emmanuel def. #5 Mount Olive, 2-0 (Box Score)
#6 Lees-McRae def. #7 Barton, 1-0 (Box Score)

Quarterfinals – Saturday, October 29 (Higher Seed Hosts)
#8 Emmanuel at #4 Chowan, 2 p.m.
#6 Lees-McRae at #3 North Greenville, 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals – Friday, November 4 (Truist Soccer Complex at Bryan Park – Browns Summit N.C.)
Winner #4-#5-#8 vs. #1 Converse, 4:30 p.m.
Winner of #3-#6-#7 vs. #2 Francis Marion, 7 p.m.

Final – Sunday, November 6 (Truist Soccer Complex at Bryan Park – Browns Summit N.C.)
Winner of Semifinal #1 vs. Winner of Semifinal #2, 4 p.m.