SWU, Bob Jones Win National Titles

A pair of South Carolina collegiate teams, Southern Wesleyan University and Bob Jones University, finished their 2013 seasons as national champions.

Both titles came in the National Christian College Athletic Association championships in Kissimee, Fla. It was the first national soccer championship for either school.

SWU captured the NCCAA Men’s Division I title with a 1-0 victory over Lee University. The [show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]game’s only goal was scored by Joa Oliveira, one of five Brazilians on the team, in the 33rd minute of play.

Bob Jones defeated Clearwater Christian College (Fla.), 1-0, for the NCCAA Women’s Division II national championship. Rebecca Luttrel (Kapaa, HI) scored the game’s only goal in the 76th minute of the second half.

Historic SWU Season

The Warriors (16-6-2) completed an unbeaten run through the NCCAA tournament by beating Campbellsville and Houghton, both by 2-1 scores, in pool play, and then eliminated Spring Arbor, 2-1, in the semifinals.

The win over Lee closed out the SWU season with seven consecutive wins, and the 16 victories was a new school record.

Douglas Andrade (Brazil) was named the Most Outstanding Player of the championship after scoring a pair of goals with two assists. Both goals came against Spring Arbor. Bruno Liozzi (Brazil) was named Most Outstanding Offensive Player.

The NCCAA title is the third overall for Southern Wesleyan , which won the 2007 baseball and women’s basketball titles.

First For Bob Jones

The Bruins, who received the at-large bid to play into the national tournament, opened with a 4-0 win over #1 ranked Providence University College, and followed that with a 2-0 victory over Ohio Christian University.

Clearwater Christian College was the defending national champions. They had tied Bob Jones earlier in the season and then defeated the Bruins 2-1 for the regional championship.

The winning goal, and the Bruins’ first national title in any sport, came in a second half as rain began to affect play. Luttrell got the goal and goalkeeper Tori Anderson (Raleigh, NC) preserved the shutout.

Bob Jones finished the season 15-5-2 and was not scored upon in the national tournament. Anderson was named the NCCAA tournament’s Outstanding Defensive Player and Luttrell was named tournament Most Valuable Player.

Bob Jones head coach Chris Carmichael was named NCCAA Coach of the Year.