#5 Pioneers end Francis Marion’s run in soccer tournament 3-1

GREENEVILLE, TN – Telmo Dantes and Bruno Conceicao scored first-half goals in a span of 1:59 and fifth-ranked Tusculum College held off a furious rally by 21st-ranked Francis Marion University to claim a 3-1 win, Friday night (Nov. 14) in the second round of the NCAA Division II National Men’s Soccer Tournament.

The loss snaps a 15-match unbeaten streak for Francis Marion, the second-longest streak in team history, and ends the Patriots’ season at 14-5-3. Tusculum (19-2-1) advances to face 13th-ranked Lees-McRae College, a 2-1 winner over Limestone College in Friday’s first match, on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Francis Marion tried to duplicate Wednesday’s rally from a three-goal deficit to beat Caron-Newman 4-3 in overtime, but it was not to be on Friday.

The goals by Dantes and Conceicao came in the 27th and 29th minutes and staked Tusculum to a 2-0 halftime advantage. Anteneh Lemma’s header off a cross from Conceicao at the 47:38 mark upped the margin to 3-0.

Conceicao also assisted on the Pioneers’ first goal, in addition to scoring his 23rd goal of the year.

Francis Marion trimmed the lead to 3-1 when senior Willie Hunt deflected a corner kick to sophomore Julian Ramjohn who scored at the 52:53 mark. It was Ramjohn’s first tally of the year.

From that point on, FMU outshot the Pioneers 8-6, but Tusculum goalkeeper Lance Moore came up with five saves to thwart any possible Patriot comeback.

FMU sophomore goalkeeper Clark Richeson finished with four saves, while Moore totaled eight stops for the match.

Francis Marion outshot Tusculum 15-14 and led 9-8 in shots-on-goal, while the Pioneers held a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Ramjohn, a defender, led FMU with five shots, four of which were on-goal.

Second-year FMU head coach Kevin Varnado now says good-bye to only one senior – Hunt – while three of the team’s top four scorers were either freshmen or sophomores and the top scorer was a junior.

Francis Marion was making its second-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Patriots advanced to the national quarterfinals of the 2000 tournament.