EVANS, Ga. – The top-seeded Lander men’s soccer team will play for the Peach Belt Conference tournament title for the second consecutive season on Sunday, as the Bearcats face third-seeded Young Harris on at 1:00 p.m., at Blanchard Woods Park.
WATCH: Peach Belt
LIVE STATS: Championship
SOCIAL: Follow @LanderMSOC on Twitter for in-game updates
STORYLINES
• Lander (14-3) is appearing in the PBC title match for the 14th time in program history, more than any other team in conference history. The Bearcats are playing for their fifth tournament championship in program history (1991, ’96, ’06, ’09). Lander’s four tournament championships are the most of any team currently in the league.
• The Bearcats faced Young Harris in the championship last year, with the Mountain Lions defeated Lander to claim their second consecutive title.
• Sunday’s contest marks the sixth time in PBC history that the championship match has featured both teams that played for the title the previous season. Montevallo and Flagler played for the championship in 2010 and 2011, UNC Pembroke defeated USC Upstate in 2003 and 2004, USC Spartanburg topped Lander in 2001 and 2002, and the Bearcats fell to USC Spartanburg in three consecutive championships from 1993-95.
• Lander jumped up to No. 18 in the NSCAA Division II Men’s National Poll this week. The Bearcats sit at No. 4 in the NCAA Southeast Regional poll.
• The Bearcats are riding a 13-match winning streak, the longest since Lander won 15 consecutive matches to begin the 1993 campaign.
• Lander ranks third nationally is assists (51) and fourth in scoring (3.24 goals/match) and points (161)
• Dean Cowdroy became the first goalkeeper in Peach Belt Conference history to win Freshman of the Year and the third Bearcat to earn the award. Lander is the first program since Young Harris in 2012-13 to have consecutive players named Freshman of the Year.
• Head coach Lee Squires became the first Lander coach to win PBC Coach of the Year since Van Taylor in 2012. Squires won the award in just his second season in the conference, becoming the first coach to do so since Pete Petersen in 2005.
• Lander became the first team in the history of the Peach Belt to place seven player on the All-PBC teams and the first since Montevallo in 2012 to have four first-team All-PBC selections. Dean Cowdroy, Hugo Delhommelle, Sam Lofts and Jordan Skelton earned first-team honors, while Richard Bryan, Michael Leach and Jamie North were named to the second-team.
