ROCK HILL, S.C. – Fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial (10-3-3) will face off with top-seeded Wingate (12-4-1) in a South Atlantic Conference tournament semifinal match Friday at Manchester Meadows. The winner will advance to Sunday's championship match against the winner between sixth-seeded Anderson and seventh-seeded Queens. LMU defeated Mars Hill 3-1 Tuesday at the LMU Soccer Complex while the Bulldogs topped Newberry 3-0 at the Wingate Soccer Complex in quarterfinal matches.
 
The Basics 

Friday, November 3 at Manchester Meadows– 11 a.m.
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Quick Hits 

- LMU scored three second-half goals Tuesday from Henrique Rezek, Danilo da Silva and Felipe de Sousa to overcome a halftime deficit and beat Mars Hill 3-1 to advance to the semifinal round of the SAC Championship for the third straight season and sixth time in seven years.
 
- Lincoln Memorial is in position to make its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since the 2007, as the Railsplitters jumped to No. 6 in the most recent NCAA Division II Southeast Region rankings released on Wednesday. Six teams from the region will earn a bid.
 
- The Railsplitters are 3-1 against teams ranked in the top eight of this week's Southeast Region poll with wins over Young Harris, Lenoir-Rhyne and Lees-McRae. Wingate serves as Lincoln Memorial's only loss, as the Bulldogs defeated the Railsplitters 1-0 in double overtime on September 30.
 
- Five Railsplitters were selected to All-SAC men's soccer squads. Da Silva was named to the All-SAC first team. In addition, Rezek, Christoph Willemsen and Ronaldo de Jesus were named to the All-SAC second team. Victor Peres was selected as an honorable mention pick.
 
- Da Silva became the first Railsplitter since Mario Pinto in 2012 to claim the SAC regular-season scoring title with 29 points to finish one ahead of Newberry's Till Neumann and scored the game-winner in Tuesday's quarterfinal match. He is tied for third in the league in goals scored and second in assists. In addition to that, the three-time All-SAC honoree attempted the third-most shots in the SAC with 65 and added seven more Tuesday. Da Silva has registered at least one point every match the Railsplitters have scored and 11 of 16 overall. He has turned in five multi-point efforts and scored six game-winning goals.
 
- The Railsplitters finished 5-1-1 at home but struggled on the road against SAC opponents. Da Silva's 104^th-minute goal at Anderson in LMU's fifth and final conference road match snapped a streak of 514 minutes in which the Railsplitters failed to score in a road SAC match.
 
- The duo of Caleb Cothrin and Caio Bergamo in goal combined for six shutouts, a 0.94 goals against average and .810 save percentage. That goals against average is the fourth-best mark in program history. The Railsplitter defense has been solid in front of them all season led by All-SAC selections Willemsen and de Jesus. LMU hasn't allowed more than one goal in any of its past ten matches and has done so only once in eleven games against SAC opponents.

Know the Opponent
 
-  Top-seeded Wingate used goals from Elliot Cutts, Jon Ander and Oscar Perez and a shutout from Pablo Jara to cruise to a 3-0 win over eighth-seeded Newberry in Tuesday's SAC Championship quarterfinal match.
 
- The Bulldogs advance to the semifinal round of the SAC championship for the third time in four years. The only exception was last year when Brevard handed the eventual national champions their only loss of the season in the quarterfinal round.
 
- Wingate is in position to return to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year, as the Bulldogs are No. 4 in the most recent NCAA Division II Southeast Region rankings. The Bulldogs are 1-3 against teams ranked in the top eight of this week's Southeast Region poll with the lone win coming over Lincoln Memorial- 1-0 in double overtime on September 30. Wingate has lost to top-ranked Limestone, second-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne and seventh-ranked Chowan. Wingate has also beaten Rollins, who is sixth in the South Region.
 
- The Bulldogs had a league-high seven players earn All-SAC honors, led by first-team honorees Damian Gaona, Filipe Checco and Jara. Elma N'For, Cutts, Mateo Correa and Mattia Ditommaso earned second-team accolades. Gary Hamill was awarded the conference's Coach of the Year.
 
- Wingate owns the most potent offensive attack in the SAC with 2.35 goals per game. The Bulldogs also allowed a league-low 15 goals (0.86 goals against average). Cutts led the team with 11 regular-season goals and added another in Tuesday's quarterfinal match.
 
- Jara is among the best in the business, though he couldn't quite match 2016's stellar performance in which he allowed just eight goals and posted an .843 save percentage during Wingate's run to the 2016 NCAA Division II National Championship. Jara has conceded 15 goals this season with a .732 save percentage and leads the league with 12 wins.
 
Head-to-Head
 
- Wingate won this year's matchup 1-0 in double overtime at the Wingate Soccer Complex on October 30. Cutts scored 19 seconds into the second overtime for the Bulldogs to knock off 15^th-ranked LMU.
 
- The Railsplitters are 2-10-1 overall against Wingate and are winless in seven matchups since a 2-0 win in Wingate in 2011.
 
- Lincoln Memorial's only other win in the series was a 2-1 victory in the 2007 regional semifinal.
 
- The teams' lone meeting in the SAC championship occurred in a 2015 semifinal match. Wingate and LMU played to a scoreless tie through 110 minutes before the Bulldogs won the penalty kick shootout 3-1 to advance to the championship.