RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – With a 1-0 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State this past Saturday, the East Central Universitywomen's soccer team won the inaugural Great American Conference regular season championship and the right to host this weekend's conference championship tournament.
The Lady Tigers, one of the GAC's four women's soccer teams, finished the 2011 regular season with an overall record of 10-6-1 and 5-1 in GAC games. ECU will battle No. 4 seed Harding (4-12-1, 0-6 GAC) in the opening round of this weekend's tournament at 4 p.m. on Friday, November 4. ECU swept the regular season home-and-away series against the Lady Bisons with a 1-0 overtime win in Searcy, Ark. and a 2-0 win at home.
The tournament kicks off on Friday at 1 p.m. with No. 2 seed Southwestern Oklahoma State (6-10-2, 4-2 GAC) facing off against No. 3 seed Ouachita Baptist (7-9, 3-3 GAC). The Bulldogs defeated the Lady Tigers 1-0 and 2-1 during the regular season.
The winners of Friday's semi-finals games will take a day off on Saturday and meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. to decide the league's inaugural tournament champion. The championship game will be featured as a part of the 2011-12 GAC Sports Network webcast schedule. That webcast, which will be available for free at www.greatamericanconference.com, will include views from multiple camera angles, play-by-play analysis and interviews with head coaches and administrators.
The ECU Athletics Department will offer a video stream of Friday's semi-finals games at www.ecutigers.com. That link will also be available at www.greatamericanconference.com as a part of the tournament home page.
For fans attending the tournament, admission has been set at $5 per person and $3 for students with a valid identification card from any of the GAC's member institutions.
