Banner Elk, NC – #6 Erskine lost to #2 Lees-McRae College 3-1 tonight in the semi-final round of the Conference Carolinas Men’s Soccer Championship Tournament.  Erskine concludes their season at 10-8-1 overall and 6-5 in conference.  Lees-McRae College advances to the championship game to be held Sunday against #1 Coker College.

Lees-McRae scored all three goals in the first half.  The first goal came in the 17^th minute of play when James Galvani centered the ball to James Smith who pushed the ball into the back of the net.   Scott Hodgins added the second goal seven minutes later when he chipped a loose ball in front of the goal into the upper corner.  LMC scored their last goal late in the first half on a header by Scott Alford on an assist by Smith.

Lees-McRae gave Erskine a goal late in the game as a corner kick from Jonathan Rutter (Birmingham, England, Fairfax)banged off an LMC defender into the goal.

Lees-McRae outshot Erskine 21 to 10 and held a slight advantage at 6-4 in corner kicks.

Roberto De La Vina (Oviedo, Spain, San Ignacio) had 9 saves for the Fleet while Thomas Rusling recorded 5 saves for the Bobcats.

The start of the game was delayed by one hour due to car trouble by the referees.

Box Score