LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- The Covenant men's soccer team concluded the regular season with a 4-0 loss to regionally-ranked Emory on Saturday at Scotland Yard.
The Scots, who will head to the USA South Tournament next week, fall to 5-10-2 on the year. Emory, ranked No. 6 in the NCAA region rankings, improves to 9-3-1 overall for the season.
Covenant played right with the visiting Eagles for the first half. The Scots had a couple good looks at the net in the opening period, including a Nate Mackey attempt in the 11th minute that was saved by Emory keeper Jake Deuel.
Emory broke a scoreless contest in the 39th minute with a goal from Michael Carragher as he took possession of the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and got his shot past Covenant keeper Jonathan Crossman. Emory would take that 1-0 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Emory struck quickly as the Eagles scored three times in the first 12 minutes of the period to go ahead 4-0. Christian Meyer scored in the 49th minute followed by a Jason McCartney score in the 50th minute and Cody Gardiner capped the outburst with a goal in the 57th minute.
Crossman made five saves for Covenant and Paul Lemay came on late and made one save. Deuel and Trevor Stormes combined for the shutout with Deuel making two saves.
UP NEXT
Covenant will await its quarterfinal round opponent for the USA South Tournament. The tournament begins on Oct. 29 with the top four seed hosting quarterfinal round matches.
WSOC: Salem downs Covenant, 1-0
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- In a match that would decide the USA South West Division regular season champion, the Covenant women's soccer team fell 1-0 at Salem on Saturday afternoon.
Covenant (13-4, 11-3 USA South) will be the No. 2 seed from the West in next week's USA South Tournament. The Lady Scots will host a quarterfinal match on Saturday, Oct. 29 against the winner of No. 3 seed Piedmont and No. 6 seed Huntingdon.
With the win, Salem (16-1-1, 12-1-1 USA South) earns its first USA South regular season title in its first year of competition in the conference. The Spirits have won 11 straight. Covenant is the only team that has defeated Salem as the Lady Scots took a 1-0 win on Sept. 17.
In another tightly played contest, Salem notched the only goal in the 27th minute as Jordan Lanier found the back of the net, assisted by Morgan Canepa, to put the host Spirits ahead 1-0. Despite holding a 13-4 edge in total shots in the half, Salem only held a 1-0 lead at halftime as the Covenant defense kept the Lady Scots in the contest.
In the second half, Covenant stifled the Salem offense and limited the Spirits to just four shots, none of which were on target. But the Lady Scots could not find the equalizer as Salem held on for the victory.
Rachel Lemay made five saves for Covenant, while Hannah Wagner made three in a matchup of the top two goalkeepers in the USA South in goals against average.
Salem held a 17-8 shot advantage. Anna Robertson, Anna Porch and Callie Bader each took two shots for Covenant.
UP NEXT
Covenant will host a USA South Tournament quarterfinal on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Scotland Yard. Start time is slated for 3 p.m.