Pfeiffer. Barton and USC Aiken secured their first trips to NCAA Division II men’s soccer postseason play, as three of six teams in the Southeast region.
Pfeiffer captured the Conference Carolinas championship and earned the league automatic berth. Barton lost to Pfeiffer in the conference semifinals, but earned an at-large berth. USC Aiken was the runnerup in the Peach Belt Conference tournament, losing in the final to top-seeded Young Harris College.
Barton (13-6) is the #6 seed and will take on #3 Wingate (13-4-1) in the NCAAs opening round in Gaffney. Aiken, seeded #4, will play #5 Pfeiffer (16-4-1) to open the tournament. The Pacers lost in the PBC final to unbeaten and top-seeded Young Harris (17-0-1) 1-0 in overtime.
Young Harris, one of only two undefeated teams in the tournament, and second-seeded Limestone (15-2-1) received byes in the opening round of regional play. The University of Charleston (WVa) is the other unbeaten team with an 18-0-1 record.
Lynn University and Mercyhurst will each make their 14 Division I national tournament appearances, but those fall short of Seattle Pacific’s 33. Southern Connecticut State will be making its 31st tournament appearance.
The semifinals and final will be played Dec. 4 and 6 at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, as part of the 2014 Division II National Championship Fall Festival.