ROCK HILL, S.C. — The Lincoln Memorial University men’s soccer team earned the No.3 seed for the 2012 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Championship and is poised to host No.6 Catawba College in the quarterfinal match on Wednesday. Pairings and seeding for the 2012 SAC Championship were released by conference officials at the conclusion of the regular-season schedule on Saturday evening.

The Railsplitters earned the No.3 seed by virtue of their 11-3-1 overall finish and 6-3 mark in the SAC this season. Lincoln Memorial moves into the tournament riding a five-game winning streak along with a 8-1 record over their last nine contests. The ‘Splitters capped the regular-season on late Saturday afternoon by edging Newberry College by a 1-0 margin in South Carolina.

In their regular-season meeting with the Catawba Indians, LMU grabbed a 2-0 victory in Salisbury, N.C., on the wings of a pair of goals from Mario Pinto. The Indians finished the season with a 9-6-3 mark and a 3-3-3 record in league play. They head into the match on a two-match winning streak.

Mars Hill enters the championship as the No. 1 seed in the men’s bracket after winning the regular-season conference title with a 7-1-1 league record. The Lions, ranked 13th in the nation in last week’s NSCAA poll, closed the regular season on Saturday with a 2-2 draw against Carson-Newman.

MHC will host No. 8 seed Tusculum on Wednesday in the quarterfinal round. TC finished even with Lenoir-Rhyne in the SAC standings at 3-4-2. However, L-R wins a tiebreaker for the No. 7 seed by virtue of its head-to-head win earlier this season over the Pioneers.

By playing Mars Hill to a draw on Saturday, Carson-Newman earned the No. 2 seed in the men’s championship. C-N and Lincoln Memorial finished the regular season with identical point totals in the conference standings, but the Eagles win the tiebreaker for the higher seed thanks to its win over LMU earlier this year.

Carson-Newman will face L-R in Jefferson City in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Wingate is seeded No. 4 in the men’s bracket after going 5-3-1 in the conference, including Saturday’s scoreless draw with Tusculum. The Bulldogs will host fifth-seeded and defending tournament champion Anderson — which beat L-R on Saturday to finish 4-4-1 in the SAC — in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

The Railsplitters are set to host No.6 Catawba Wednesday at 3 p.m. on the grounds of the LMU Soccer Complex. A win would advance LMU to the semifinal bracket which takes place on Nov. 2nd at 7 p.m. in Rock Hill, S.C.

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2012 Food Lion SAC Soccer Championship Schedule

Quarterfinals – Wednesday, Oct. 30

No. 8 Tusculum at No. 1 Mars Hill, 4 p.m.

No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne at No. 2 Carson-Newman, 7:30 p.m.

No. 6 Catawba at No. 3 Lincoln Memorial, 3 p.m.

No. 5 Anderson at No. 4 Wingate, 4:30 p.m.

Semifinals – Friday, Nov.2 (Rock Hill, S.C.)

Mars Hill/Tusculum vs. Wingate/Anderson, 7 p.m.

Carson-Newman/Lenoir-Rhyne vs. LMU/Catawba, 7 p.m.

Final – Sunday, Nov. 4 (Rock Hill, S.C.)

Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner, 4 p.m.