Monday, October 30, 2006

MACON, Ga. – The Atlantic Sun Conference regular season has ended and the league will celebrate its third different champion in three years as second-year member Kennesaw State won the regular season championship with a 7-0 win over Belmont.

With the conference’s matches ending, the field for the six-team 2006 Atlantic Sun Championship is set with the Owls as the No. 1-seed. Kennesaw State won the title with an undefeated regular season. The Stetson Hatters are the No. 2-seed.

The tournament, which begins on November 2 with two first-round match-ups, will have with No. 3-seed Mercer battling No. 6-seed Gardner-Webb at 4:00 p.m. The day’s other match will showcase No. 4 East Tennessee State against No. 5 Jacksonville at 7:30 p.m.

Kennesaw State (13-1-2, 8-0-1 A-Sun) won eight conference matches for the second straight season as they captured their first A-Sun regular season title in just their second year in the league. Kennesaw State’s only conference blemish came against Stetson when the Owls and the Hatters played to a 1-1 tie on September 22. It’s the first conference tournament appearance for the Owls who just ended their transition period last year.

Stetson (11-7-1, 7-1-1), who is playing their 14th A-Sun season, enjoyed their best-ever conference season. This year was the first time in school history that the Hatters had a winning conference record. Stetson’s previous best conference season came in 2004 when they finished with a 3-3-4 mark. Stetson is making its sixth appearance in the tournament and their fourth consecutive showing.

Mercer (5-11-1, 5-3-1) is making their first appearance in the A-Sun tournament since 1998 when they were the No. 3-seed from the Western Division. The Bears five wins have all come in the conference including a stirring 1-0 overtime against Stetson last week. Mercer is making its fourth appearance in the tournament and their first since 1998.

ETSU (5-10-3, 3-3-2), a newcomer to the league like Kennesaw State, is making their second straight tournament appearance. In their debut last season the Buccaneers, a five-seed, lost to Jacksonville, 1-0, in a first round match.

Jacksonville (9-9-0, 4-5-0) is making its third straight A-Sun tournament appearance and the eighth in the last nine years. The Dolphins are 11-6 all-time in the tournament and won the tournament title back in 2000 when they defeated Florida Atlantic 2-1. Jacksonville has played in four championship matches, from 1998-2000 and again in 2002.

Gardner-Webb (9-7-2, 3-4-2) had to play the waiting game to see if it would make the tournament field this season. Since joining the league in 2002, the Bulldogs will be making their fourth straight tournament appearance. GWU is 1-3 in the tournament with their lone win coming in 2004 when they beat Stetson, 4-1, in the first round.

2006 Atlantic Sun Conference
Women’s Soccer Tournament Appearances

No. 1 – Kennesaw State Owls
AppearancesFirst Record 0-0

No. 2 – Stetson Hatters
Appearances 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2000, 1999 Record 2-5

No. 2 – Mercer Bears
Appearances 2006, 1998, 1997, 1994 Record 0-3

No. 4 – ETSU Buccaneers
Appearances 2006, 2005 Record 0-1

No. 5 – Jacksonville Dolphins
Appearances 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998 Record 11-6

No. 6 - Gardner-Webb Bulldogs
Appearances 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003 Record 1-3