SUWANEE, Ga. - Heading into the final weekend of SCAC regular season conference play just two spots remain to be determined with Trinity, Oglethorpe, Centre and Colorado College having all qualified for the first conference soccer tournament since 1992 hosted by Birmingham-Southern. Just six points separate the fifth place team from the 10th place team fighting for the final two sports leaving for lots of exciting soccer action this weekend.   

- AROUND THE SCAC -

Austin College fell 2-0 to the University of Dallas in its lone game of the week on Saturday, dropping the ‘Roos to 5-8-2 overall and 1-6 in SCAC play on the year. The Crusaders tallied in the 10th minute and carried a 1-0 lead into halftime, and in the 64th minute UD was able to put the game away with another goal. The ‘Roos fell despite out-shooting the Crusaders 20-12 in the match, as Grant Gosselin made five saves in the net. This week the ‘Roos are home for Homecoming, when they’ll play host to Trinity on Friday and Southwestern on Saturday to wrap up the regular season.

Birmingham-Southern dropped a tough 3-2 decision to No. 25 Oglethorpe in Atlanta on Saturday in their only game of the week. BSC returns home this weekend, hosting Sewanee on Friday and Centre on Sunday to wrap up the regular season before hosting the SCAC Men’s Soccer Championship, Nov. 4-6.

Centre had three games this past week, hosting non-conference opponent Maryville College (TN) before hosting SCAC foes Rhodes College and Millsaps College. On Monday night against Maryville (TN), Centre earned a 2-0 shutout victory, with juniors Josh Settle (Bowling Green, KY) and Ryan Garvey (Louisville, KY) both scoring in the final fifteen minutes of the game. Then on Friday night, five different players scored for the Colonels in a 7-1 rout of Rhodes College. Settle again led the way with two goals on Homecoming night, with Austin Hall (Indianapolis, IN), Robbe Tarver (Houston, TX), Austin Greer (Bowling Green, KY) and Will Frentz (Louisville, KY) all tallying a goal as well. On Sunday, Centre completed its perfect week by picking up another 2-0 shutout win over Millsaps College. Senior Ben Van Nevel (Louisville, KY) picked up the eventual game-winner on Senior Day, with freshman Alex Seither (Louisville, KY) adding the second goal. Senior Chris Jackson (Oxford, OH) earned both of the shutouts for the Colonels, his seventh and eighth of the season. With the three wins, Centre improves to 11-3-2 overall and 5-1-1 in SCAC play. They will travel away to Oglethorpe and Birmingham-Southern this coming weekend to round out their regular season.

Colorado College split a pair of road games, falling 2-0 at No. 5 Trinity before bouncing back for a 5-1 victory at Southwestern. CC gave TU all it could handle on Friday night, but was unable to find the net for the second time this season. The first was a 0-0 tie with Minnesota Morris on Sept. 5. Brian Graf recorded six saves for the visiting Tigers, who were outshot 15-11. Matt Fechter struck for four goals to propel Colorado College to a 5-1 victory at Southwestern on Sunday. The junior forward now has four career multiple-goal games and has scored four markers on two occasions. The first was during a 6-1 victory over Oglethorpe University on Oct. 18, 2009. Fechter opened the scoring in the 14th minute when he buried a shot from 18 yards at the top of the box off a cross from Alec Sowers, who picked up his first collegiate point. The junior scored what proved to be his second game-winning goal of the season and seventh of his career when he chipped a shot over the Pirate goalkeeper in the 28th minute. Fechter also has a pair of game-winning assists and set up the game-tying goal in another contest this season. Junior forward Daniel Wright set up Fechter’s second and fourth tallies for the first multiple-assist game of his career. Freshman forward Stuart Beezley closed out the scoring with his first collegiate goal with six minutes remaining in the game. Brian Graf stopped two of three shots while improving to 6-3-0 in goal. The Tigers travel to Hendrix for the regular-season finale on Friday night.

Dallas (5-8-1 (2-5)) went 2-0 on the week, defeating Dallas Christian College (DCC) and Austin College (AC) in a pair of home games. Dallas took down DCC, 9-0, on Friday afternoon at Crusader Field in a game where Dallas accumulated 17 shots on goal. Michael Chapman and Alex Lebl each tallied two goals in the triumph, while James Kerin recorded his first of two shutouts (third total) for the week. The latter came in Dallas' 2-0 victory over AC on Saturday afternoon. Chapman scored once again for the Crusaders -- his fifth of the season -- and Matt Wise provided insurance against the 'roos with a goal of his own. This week, Dallas plays host to Southwestern University (Oct. 28) and Trinity University (Oct. 30; 'Senior Day').

Hendrix started the week with a 3-0 loss to Centenary at home on Tuesday. Freshman keeper Joe Esrock, making his first career start, came up with 11 saves. On Friday, the Warriors rolled to a 5-1 victory at Southwestern. Senior forward Duncan Keegan scored two goals and had two assists. Junior forward Connor Silvestri, freshman forward Jake Thielke and junior midfielder Tresor Mukiza also found the net in that game. On Sunday, the Warriors held a 2-1 halftime lead against #5 Trinity. After going down 1-0, Keegan scored on a pass from Silvestri in the 30th minute. Hendrix took the lead on another Keegan goal assisted by Mukiza in the 39th minute. Trinity managed two goals off of corner kicks to win the game. Legg stopped 10 shots in the game. Hendrix is tied for sixth place and the final spot of the SCAC Tournament with Rhodes. The Warriors will try to seal their spot when they host Colorado College on Friday night.

Millsaps dropped two contests this weekend and were eliminated from SCAC postseason play. On Friday, they could not overcome a 3-0 first half deficit as they went on to fall 4-0 to the Sewanee Tigers. They came back Sunday and fought hard with the Centre Colonels on Sunday afternoon, but could not overcome a two goal deficit as they fell to Centre, 2-0. The Majors conclude their season on Saturday, October 29th as they will compete on senior day against the Rhodes Lynx.

#25 Oglethorpe delivered their 10th straight win on Saturday afternoon by topping Birmingham-Southern 3-2 in front of a delighted home-standing crowd there to help the program celebrate 50 years of soccer on the Oglethorpe campus. Now 13-2-0, the Petrels have matched the school record for wins in a season. Sophomore Nikos Papanikolopoulos got the party started in the 25th minute for the Petrels when he headed Aaron Walker's corner kick home. Southern would equalize in the 42nd minute but Oglethorpe countered just before half when Justin Graves connected with Carlos Gaston for a sliding shot that beat the Panthers keeper and propelled the Petrels to a 2-1 halftime lead. Oglethorpe would extend the lead in the 65th minute when Mark Lavery deftly fed Sean King for a two goal advantage. Southern managed to put one in late but Oglethorpe held on for the satisfying win. The Petrels not only tied the school record for wins in a season but also matched the season mark for SCAC wins by notching their 7th. At 7-0 in conference play, Oglethorpe is assured a postseason berth to the SCAC Tournament to be held in Birmingham November 4-6. Jon Akin's squad can break his own record for wins in a season on Tuesday when the men square off with LaGrange College in a non-conference tilt on Salamone Field at 4:00 p.m. The team can also clinch a first round bye in the postseason tournament and set the school mark for SCAC wins if they can top Centre College on Salamone Field this Friday at 3:00 p.m.

Rhodes split a pair of SCAC games this past weekend falling 7-1 on the road at Centre on Friday before bouncing back on Sunday to pick up a huge 2-1 win over Sewanee. The Lynx will wrap up the regular season SCAC schedule this weekend in Jackson, Mississippi against Millsaps. 

Needing two wins over the weekend, Sewanee split a pair of SCAC matches against Millsaps and Rhodes. The Tigers had a strong offensive performance against the Majors on Friday night, after jumping out to a 3-0 lead at the half. Sewanee then added one late goal in the second period, which gave the Tigers a much-needed three points in the conference standings. Unfortunately, all the momentum Sewanee built against Millsaps fell on Sunday after Rhodes snuck away with a 2-1 win. This week Sewanee will needed two wins at Birmingham-Southern and Oglethorpe, plus and a little help, for the Tigers to make one of the top-six SCAC slots.

Southwestern hosted their final home games of the season this weekend, taking on Hendrix College and Colorado College in SCAC action Friday and Sunday. Friday night the Pirates kicked-off their game with a ceremony to thank donors for the newly installed lights. Hendrix controlled the game, however, scoring three goals within six minutes of each other en route to a 5-1 win. Sunday's game, the final home contest for three seniors Dishon Isaac, Colin McCulloch and Nick Pierce, was much of the same as the Pirates just weren't able to handle the Tiger's attack as they fell 5-1 to Colorado College. The losses drop the Pirates to 6-8-1 on the year, 3-4 in the SCAC, and in eighth place in the conference with two games to play. The Pirates face off with Austin College and the University of Dallas on the road in their final week of regular season action. If SU can win both games they would still earn a berth to the first SCAC Conference Tournament to be held in Birmingham, Ala. November 4-6.

#5 Trinity won a pair of close games in SCAC play over the weekend, remaining unbeaten with a 12-0-2 overall record, and a 7-0 conference mark. After a scoreless first half on Friday, Trinity scored a pair of second-half goals to defeat Colorado College, then found themselves in an even tougher game on Sunday. After the Tigers opened the scoring with an early goal, Hendrix answered with two first-half scores to take a 2-1 lead to halftime. Trinity tied it in the 66th minute, then avoided overtime with another goal just over seven minutes later. The Tigers will finish off the regular season this weekend with two more SCAC games. Trinity takes on Austin College and the University of Dallas on Friday and Sunday. The Tigers defeated Austin 10-0 last year, but did not play against Dallas.

To view the entire SCAC Kicks Weekly for week eight, click here.