BREVARD, N.C. – The second-seeded Brevard College Tornados (8-3-3) won 5-4 in a penalty-kick shootout over no. 3 seed Southern Virginia (10-4-3) following a 1-1 draw through 110 minutes of play at the semifinals of the USA South Conference Men's Soccer Tournament on Wednesday evening at Ives-Lemel Family Field.   With the win, the back-to-back USA South champion Tornados will advance to the tournament's championship game, hosting no. 4 seed William Peace on Saturday on the campus of Brevard College.

Junior midfielder Caue dos Santos scored the winning penalty kick to send the Brevard bench and fans into a frenzied celebration.  Dos Santos, a native of Americana, Brazil, found the right corner of the net with a beautifully struck shot to break the 4-4 score in the shootout and clinch the championship berth. 

Junior Dan Morgan made the first penalty kick for Brevard to match SVU's opening PK made by Ammon Lewis.  The Knights converted consecutive penalty kicks by Benjamin Simister and Jackson Gorringe in their second and third attempts with both PKs matched by BC seniors Ryan Lynch and Rodrigo Garcia.

Tied 3-3, Southern Virginia missed its penalty, setting up an opportunity for Luiz Pontes, a graduate student from Joao Pessoa, Brazil.  With a hushed silence throughout the venue, Pontes delivered with his left foot, finding the bottom right corner to put the Tornados in the driver's seat.

SVU's Porter Whitlock converted to tie the score 4-4 in the shootout, setting up dos Santos who finished the job to send BC to the championship game.

The match began with a scoreless first half that saw Brevard register six shots, while not allowing a single shot by the Knights.  The match remained scoreless until Pontes broke the deadlock with his sixth goal of the season off an assist by Lynch.  Pontes settled a long ball to the right side from Lynch then cut to the left and scored past SVU's goalkeeper to break the deadlock.  For Lynch, recently named USA South Player of the Year for the second straight season, it marked the 11th assist of the season and the 23rd of his storied career.

Five minutes later, the Knights were presented with a major opportunity as Landon Scott shot toward an empty net.  Senior defender Leonard Zabeu made a remarkable save with his chest at the goal line to keep the shutout intact.  

After 12 more minutes of scoreless soccer, Southern Virginia scored the equalizer off a free kick as Gorringe Jackson found the back of the net.  

Neither team scored in the final 20 minutes of regulation to send the match into overtime.  The game remained tied 1-1 through the two 10-minute overtime periods as well to set up the thrilling penalty kick shootout.

Brevard will host Methodist in the championship game of the USA South Men's Soccer Tournament on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Ives-Lemel Family Field on the BC campus.  The Tornados will be seeking their third consecutive USA South championship and a third straight trip to the NCAA Division III national championship tournament.   

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