NEWBERRY - The Newberry College men's soccer team (5-11-1, 5-2-1 SAC) season came to an end today as Wingate University (11-6-3, 3-4-1 SAC) defeated the scarlet and gray, 2-1, in the First Round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament in front of a crowd of 253.

In the first half neither team was able to find the back of the net, despite eight shots taken a piece. Newberry had three shots on goal compared to Wingate's two.

Newberry gained the first goal in the 70th minute off a goal from Ryan Fielden (Tega Cay, S.C.). Fielden's shot from the left side deflected off the hip off a Bulldog defender creating a bizarre spin allowing the ball to bounce past Wingate goalkeeper Joey Calandra (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) giving the scarlet and gray the 1-0 lead.

Wingate tied the game in the 73rd minute, when they were awarded a penalty kick after Ben Mottel (North Augusta, S.C.) accidentatly handled the ball inside the penalty area. Rory Green (Nottingham, England) was able to convert the penalty kick for the Bulldogs tying the playoff game at 1-1.

Three minutes later Wingate garnered another goal to extend their lead to 2-1. A failure to clear to ball in the Newberry defensive half lead to the game-winning goal for Jamie McKenna (Blackpool, England).

Calandra recorded six saves for the visiting Bulldogs and improved his record to 8-6-2 on the year. James Woods (Summerville, S.C.) recorded the loss for Newberry and had one save in the game. Woods split playing time with Will Dieterich (Tampa, Fla.), who had two saves in the first half.

Wingate advances to play in the Semifinals of the Food Lion SAC Men's Soccer Tournament against the winner of Carson-Newman College and Lenoir-Rhyne University.

The game was only the second time in Newberry history that the men's soccer team hosted a playoff game with the first being a loss to Wingate in 2006.