Box Score by Benny Benton
GAFFNEY, S.C. – The howling 25 mile-per-hour wind in which Thursday's Conference Carolinas Tournament men's soccer semifinal was played was an appropriate backdrop for a match in which one of the nation's top offenses stormed through the Barton College defense.
Second-seeded Pfeiffer University, ranked sixth in NCAA Division II in scoring offense at nearly three goals per game, reached its average just over 24 minutes into the contest and doubled it before the match was over in claiming a 6-0 victory over the third-seeded Bulldogs.
The win was the 15th in Pfeiffer's last 16 matches, and moved the Falcons (16-4) into Saturday's league title match against No.4 seed Lees-McRae College, which upset top seed and host Limestone College 1-0 in overtime in the day's first match.
Barton, 13-6 after falling in the semifinals for the second straight year, will now wait until 7:30 p.m. on Monday for the NCAA Selection Show to see if its six wins over regional opponents – including a 3-0 victory over Pfeiffer earlier this year – will be enough to get the Bulldogs into the NCAA Division II Tournament.
The Bulldogs began the day ranked No. 4 in the Southeast Region, and six teams are invited to the "Big Dance." However, it remains to be seen how much the lopsided loss will impact the rankings.
Pfeiffer, which started play just outside the top six at No. 7, was hungry for a convincing win over a higher ranked regional team, and it didn't take long for the high-flying Falcons to get the offense cranked up.
Sixteen minutes into the match, the league leader in points, Nathan Regis, lofted a cross from the right wing into the box, where Jaime Siaj knocked in a header from 10 yards out for his ninth goal of the year to put the Falcons up 1-0.
On its very next shot attempt just over three minutes later, the play was recreated from the opposite side, with Jorge Buzzo lifting a cross in from the left wing to Roberto Soares, who headed the ball past Barton keeper Jens Madsen Hordvik for his 10th goal of the season and a 2-0 Pfeiffer advantage.
Regis, also the league leader in goals scored with 16 coming into the contest, got into the act in the 25th minute, drilling a header off a corner kick from Martim Galvao into the bottom left corner of the net to extend the Falcons' lead to 3-0.
Less than two minutes later, Galvao played a beautiful ball in from the left corner, bending the free kick just inside the right post for his eighth goal of the season. The shot was the 10th of the match – all taken by Pfeiffer – and the Falcons already had a commanding 4-0 lead.
Barton did not get a shot attempt until Dante De Luca's free kick from 30 yards out sailed just high in the 35th minute, and trailed 11-3 at the half in shots taken.
Regis tacked on two more goals early in the second period to complete a hat trick and extend his league lead to 19. Both came on breakaways, the first one in the 51st minute off a Galvao assist and the second in the 61st minute on a solo run.
With the Falcons getting their reserves some playing time, Barton finally got some opportunities on offense and closed the final deficit in shots to 21-14. However, Pfeiffer keeper Nicolas Dulac recorded eight saves to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard for the first time in 13 matches and just the second time all season.
Hordvik recorded three saves in the loss for Barton. Austin Tausch led the squad in shots (three) and shots on goal (two).
