Rocky Mount, N.C. - The women's soccer team of N.C. Wesleyan wrapped up its regular season on Wednesday at Scalf Field, fighting to a double-overtime draw with USA South champion Meredith College. The Bishops will now prepare for the conference tournament, which begins on Saturday.
Versus Meredith, both teams created scoring opportunities but were turned away by fantastic goalie performances by NCW's Vanessa Batchelor and MC's Jaisa Loch. Batchelor finished with nine saves on the day, while Loch turned away four shots-on-goal... the latter coming on a diving save of a Nicole Liette free kick with 10 seconds remaining.
The tie left the Bishops with a 5-6-1 league record, which secured the #7 seed for the USA South Conference Tournament. For the second straight year, Wesleyan will travel to Piedmont College for a first round match-up with the Lions. Last season, NCW advanced to semifinal play with a 4-2 win in penalty kicks. This season, the Lions were 2-0 winners over the Bishops at Scalf Field back on September 18th.
Saturday's match is slated for 2:30pm start in Demorest, Georgia. Both lives stats and video will be available via http://ncwcsports.com/landing/index by visiting the USA South's official tournament website at http://www.usasouth.net/championships/wsoc/index. Go Bishops!