Hawks Men’s Soccer Earns Top Seed

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Chowan University has earned the top seed in the 2024 Conference Carolinas Men’s Soccer Championship that starts on Thursday, November 7. The hunt for the championship title will begin Friday, November 15th for the Hawks after earning a buy through to the semi-final round.

Chowan earned the top seed with a KPI value of .192 after finishing with a 7-2-2 mark in Conference Carolinas play. The East Division runners-up finished with an overall record of 8-4-3 and received a bye into the tournament semifinals at the Truist Soccer Complex at Bryan Park in Browns Summit, North Carolina on Friday, Nov. 15 at 4:45 p.m.

The Hawks will look to defend their 2023 Conference Carolinas Championship Title beginning Friday, November 15th at 4:30pm. The Hawks received a first-round buy and will await the winner of the #4-#5-#8 quarterfinals match up. The Hawks have two Conference Carolinas titles (2021, 2023), all under the direction of 11th year veteran coach, Chris Whalley. 

Converse earns the second seed with a KPI value of .162 as the Valkyries went 9-1-7 overall and 6-0-6 in league play, winning the Northwest Division. Converse will play in the second semifinal on Friday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Francis Marion (8-5-5, 6-3-2) CC earned the third seed with a KPI value of .141. The East Division champions receive a bye into the quarterfinals where they will face the winner of the sixth seed Emmanuel University (8-4-2, 7-4-1 CC) and seventh seed University of Mount Olive (4-6-4, 3-4-4 CC). Emmanuel will take on Mount Olive on Thursday, November 7 at 7:00 p.m. in Franklin Springs, Georgia. The winner will then take on Francis Marion on Sunday, November 10 at 4:30 p.m. in Florence, South Carolina.

The determination of sixth place came down to using the conference’s tiebreakers as all KPI comparisons within .002 are within the margin of error and treated as a tie. Emmanuel is awarded the sixth seed in this case. The two teams did not play against each other, so the first tiebreaker does not break the tie. The second tiebreaker is conference record (point system). Emmanuel has a better record (points system). Therefore, Emmanuel is the sixth seed and Mount Olive is the seventh seed.

Fourth seed, Barton College (7-4-2, 4-4-2 CC) will host ninth seed Belmont Abbey College on Thursday, November 7 at 7:00 p.m. in Wilson, North Carolina. The Crusaders finished the regular season with an overall record of 7-7-3 while going 4-6-2 in conference play.

Young Harris College earned the fifth seed, going 9-2-4 overall and 8-1-2 in league play and will host eighth seed Lees-McRae College. The Bobcats posted league mark of 4-3-5 while going 4-4-7 overall. Kickoff in Young Harris, Georgia is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 7.

Fans can watch every game of the tournament live via the Conference Carolinas Digital Network and BlueFrame at conferencecarolinasdn.com. Information regarding the championship schedule, bracket and the Truist Soccer Complex at Bryan Park are available at the link above or https://conferencecarolinas.com/tournaments/?id=111. 

2024 Conference Carolinas Men’s Soccer Championship
First Round – Thursday, November 7 (Higher Seed Hosts)
#9 Belmont Abbey at #4 Barton, 7:00 p.m.
#8 Lees-McRae at #5 Young Harris, 7:00 p.m.
#7 Mount Olive at #6 Emmanuel, 7:00 p.m.

Quarterfinals – Sunday, November 10 (Higher Seed Hosts)
Winner of #5-#8 vs. #4-#9, TBD
Winner of #6-#7 at #3 Francis Marion, 4:30 p.m.

Semifinals – Friday, November 15 (Truist Soccer Complex at Bryan Park – Browns Summit, N.C.)
Winner #4-#5-#8 vs. #1 Chowan, 4:45 p.m.
Winner of #3-#6-#7 vs. #2 Converse, 7:30 p.m.

Final – Sunday, November 17 (Truist Soccer Complex at Bryan Park – Browns Summit, N.C.)
Winner of Semifinal #1 vs. Winner of Semifinal #2, 4:00 p.m.