Date Posted: 11/12/2007

MACON, Ga. - The 27th Atlantic Sun Men's Soccer Championship kicks off on Wednesday in DeLand, Fla., with Jacksonville entering as the top seed, host Stetson as the No. 2 seed and defending champion Gardner-Webb in the field as the sixth seed.

Jacksonville ended a streak of four consecutive losing seasons in conference play and won the regular-season title with a 7-2 mark in A-Sun play. The Dolphins entered the final week of conference trailing Campbell by a single point in the standings. By beating Lipscomb 3-0 and Belmont 2-0, both in Nashville, Tenn., the Dolphins passed the Camels and held off hard-charging Stetson to win the title.

JU senior forward Anton Axelsson paced the Dolphins throughout the season with his offensive prowess. He registered a point in 13 of Jacksonville's 18 games. His play reached higher levels once the Dolphins entered conference play, as he registered at least one point in eight of the Dolphins' nine A-Sun matches en route to pacing the league in scoring in A-Sun play, with 19 points and in game-winning goals, scoring four. He shared the A-Sun's top honor in goals with Gardner-Webb's Richard Godfrey. Each scored eight.

With a win at USC Upstate in their A-Sun finale, Stetson, the 2005 champion and the 2006 runner-up, slid past Campbell to claim the second seed and a bye into the semifinals. The second seed has won the last two championships (Gardner-Webb won last season) and has played in three of the last four finals. The Hatters finished A-Sun play with a record of 6-2-1, culminating a three-year run of 16-4-4 against conference opponents. The Hatters and the aforementioned Camels share the best regular-season conference record over that span.

The Hatters will attempt to reverse a "host curse." No host has captured the title in any of the last five men's soccer Championships. Mercer's title in 2001 marked the end of a run in which the host won the title in 12 of the first 21 Championships. In the five years since, the host has lost twice in the championship match and three times the host lost in the semifinals.

The Championship opens on Wednesday with a pair of in-state matchups. The first quarterfinal features two schools that not only share a state, but also a city and a street. Lipscomb, seeded fourth, and Belmont, seeded fifth, will renew acquaintances in the opening quarterfinal match. The regular-season "Battle of the Boulevard" showdown resulted in a 0-0 tie on September 28 at Lipscomb.

Prior to this season, Lipscomb's success in the Atlantic Sun qualified as limited at best. The Bisons won just five of their first 33 Atlantic Sun matches and had never finished higher than a tie for seventh in the standings. The Bisons almost matched their all-time conference win total, finishing 2007 with a mark of 4-3-2; good enough to earn the No. 4 seed. The Bisons will attempt to repeat the fate of the last school to make its first appearance in the Championship. In 2006, Gardner-Webb made the field for the first time and came away with the title.

North Carolina's Campbell, the No. 3 seed, and Gardner-Webb, the No. 6 seed, meet in the second quarterfinal match. Campbell outlasted Gardner-Webb in the regular season, rallying from a two-goal deficit to win 4-3. Gardner-Webb's Richard Godfrey scored twice in the opening half as the Bulldogs took a 3-1 lead, but Campbell's Ben York scored the game-tying and game-winning goal less than four minutes apart. Expect this match to be close right to the end as all of Campbell’s 18 matches have ended either in a tie or with a one-goal differential.

Much of Gardner-Webb's season as the reigning conference champion did not go as planned as the Bulldogs lost their first eight matches and 12 of their first 13. Heading into their final two weeks of conference play, the Bulldogs stood in danger of becoming the first defending champ to miss the next year's Championship in six years. However, after a win against Mercer on October 20, the Bulldogs needed at least a tie against Florida Gulf Coast to make the field. Richard Godfrey scored twice early and after Florida Gulf Coast tied the match at three in the 83rd minute, Logan Swaim scored 30 seconds later for the game-winning tally to push Gardner-Webb past Mercer for the 6th seed.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.

2007 Atlantic Sun Men's Soccer Championship
Presented by Bealls Outlet 
All Matches Played at the Stetson Soccer Complex; DeLand, Fla.

Wednesday, November 14
#5 Belmont vs #4 Lipscomb, 4:00pm
#6 Gardner-Webb vs #3 Campbell, 7:00pm

Thursday, November 15
Quarterfinal #1 Winner vs #1 Jacksonville, 4:00pm
Quarterfinal #2 Winner vs #2 Stetson, 7:00pm

Saturday, November 17
Championship, 1:00pm