Carolinian

Issue date: 11/7/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: soconsports.com REPEAT: UNC Greensboro's men's team poses with its newly acquired SoCon Championship hardware. Michael Parker's team captured its second straight tournament title after defeating Georgia Southern 3-0 on Sunday.

The UNC Greensboro's men team thrashed Georgia Southern 3-0 on Sunday afternoon in Greenville, S.C. to capture its second consecutive SoCon Tournament title, while the Spartan women capped a perfect SoCon season with a 3-1 win over Furman at Western Carolina to earn their first tournament title since 2003.

Both teams were paired with their respective opponents Monday, but results weren't available at press time. For more information on the Spartans, log onto www.uncgspartans.com.

Scott Jones scored ten minutes into Sunday's match to give UNCG an early lead. The game would remain scoreless until late in the second half, when Randi Patterson and Thomas Campbell struck for goals in less than a three-minute span to ensure the victory. Patterson's goal tied him with Chris Goos for fifth on UNCG's all-time scoring list with 139 points.

After a sub-par performance in the opening round win over Wofford, the

Spartans stepped up their game and defeated Appalachian State 2-0 in the semifinal round before easily dispatching of the Golden Eagles in the championship game.

UNCG (14-7-1) dominated the tournament, outscoring the competition 7-0. The Spartans also exacted revenge against the only teams to deny them victories in conference play this season. The men played to a scoreless tie at Georgia Southern in the regular season, and lost to the Mountaineers at home.

"Defense wins tournament games," said UNCG coach Michael Parker. "I think this group, being so experienced, has figured that out. Certainly in this tournament our defensive effort was excellent. Henning Jonasson was outstanding all weekend long."

Jonasson was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament for his efforts, and Matt Elliott, Jokull Elisabetarson, and Michael FitzGerald were all named to the All-Tournament team.

The Spartans will make their eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a Division I school, and their 17th overall. UNCG has reached the Sweet 16 in each of the last two seasons, and there is a strong desire to make a similar showing with a senior-laden class. The Sweet 16 is an entire two wins away however, but Parker believes his team's focus is where it should be - on game one.

Continued...

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