With a 1-0 victory over Wofford on Sunday Elon’s Men Soccer team took home the SoCon Championship trophy for the 2013 season. The tournament was an exciting event for those soccer fans willing to brave the cold, wet weather as it rained through every game. Despite the poor conditions, the play on the pitch did not suffer.

Demonstrating their prowess in game one was Elon, with a dominant match against Georgia Southern, that saw Elon’s side surge early to net four goals before the end of the first half. In front of a sparse crowd they displayed fantastic footballing skills and kept the pressure on their opponents. They held it together for the second half, scoring one and being scored upon once, in order to move on to the finals.

In game two of the tournament Furman took on the number one seed Wofford. Despite the rain’s increased intensity from game one Furman and Wofford fans were out in big numbers, with the Furman body painters paying the weather no mind. Getting out in front early were the Paladins with a goal just eleven minutes in by freshman Marco Ortiz. Unfortunately a foul in the box allowed Wofford to tie it up on a penalty kick early in the second half.

Shortly after the penalty the Paladins had what appeared to be the go ahead goal taken away after the referees called a handball. Unable to find another chance, Furman was defeated after a rare botched clearance by usually dependable keeper Sven Lissek led to Wofford’s second goal and the final one of the match.

The Championship game proved to be a classic with Elon and Wofford deadlocked nil-nil at the end of regulation play. The game would need two overtimes to finally see completion but Elon would score in the 102nd minute to avoid a decision by penalties. It was a well fought loss by Wofford who came away with nothing despite holding the edge in shots with 16 to Elon’s 10.

With their tournament win Elon has gained a berth into the NCAA National Tournament to see how long they can keep their season alive. Furman and Wofford will await the selection announcement on Monday to see if their resumes this year have been strong enough to earn an at large bid.