Food Lion SAC Men's Soccer Championship Final: Bulldogs Win SAC Men's Soccer Title with 1-0 Victory
November 10, 2002

Courtesy Carson-Newman, Tusculum College Sports Information Offices

GREENEVILLE, Tenn.- The Wingate Bulldogs are the men's soccer tournament champions for the South Atlantic Conference. The Bulldogs earned the title with a 1-0 win over Tusculum Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Field.

The lone goal came in the sixth minute when Wingate's Paul Costick (Southhampton, England) scored an unassisted goal. Tusculum entered the match sporting the second-ranked offense in the nation at 4.88 goals per match but the Pioneers could only manage nine shots with only one being a shot on goal. The Wingate defense did an excellent job of setting the tone of the match. Pioneer forward Paul Hopkins was the nation's leading scorer with 28 goals and 69 points but the Bulldogs held him and the rest of TC's offense in check the entire match.

The meeting between the two teams was the first time the two had met in the finals since the 1999 championship. Top-seeded Wingate was ranked sixth in the nation that year but sixth-seed Tusculum downed the Bulldogs 1-0.

Wingate   1 0 - 1 
Tusculum  0 0 - 0

Scoring Summary
WU: Paul Costic (unassisted), 6:12.

Shots: WU 9, TC 9

Corner Kicks: WU 1, TC 7

Fouls: WU 17, TC 22

Offsides: WU 3, TC 0

Goal Keeper Stats: WU Philip Poole (90:00), 0 GA, 1 save. TC- Tony Swaminathan (90:00), 1 GA, 5 saves.

Records: WU 15-6-2, TC 17-8-1