For the second straight season, the Lenoir-Rhyne Women’s Soccer Team defeated the Catawba Indians on the last day of the regular season to capture the program’s ninth SAC Regular Season Championship since 2010. Elin Hansson scored two goals in the first six minutes of the game as the Bears held on for the 2-1 victory. The Bears also earned the number one seed in the SAC Women’s Soccer Tournament that starts on Sunday, Nov. 5.

Hansson scored both of her goals in a 2:12 span early in the first half. Hansson got on the board in the third minute thanks to a Kara Gavaghan cross, then early in the sixth minute, the sophomore connected from a pass by Evan O’Leary.

Catawba did cut the lead into half in the 26th minute after Hannah Dunn scored her eighth goal of the season.

LR had a big opportunity to add to the lead in the 75th minute, but Catawba’s Ashley Hughes stopped Evan O’Leary’s penalty kick to keep the score at 2-1. S.A. Phillips made one of her three saves in the final minutes as the Bears held on for their 9th title. Shots were pretty even all night as the Bears held a slight 14-12 advantage. LR had eight corner kicks on the evening.

The Bears were the No.1 seed in the first Southeast regional rankings that were released on Wednesday, Nov. 1. Catawba was second in the same rankings.

Hansson scored her 13th and 14th goal tonight, which is good for ninth-most goals by a LR player in a single season. The Bears moved their SAC unbeaten streak to 23 games as the Bears have not lost a conference game the last two seasons. This is the third time in program history the Bears went undefeated in SAC play; the first two occurrences were in 2011 and 2012, when those teams went 9-0.

The Bears are 13-0-3 overall, 11-0 in the South Atlantic Conference. The Lenoir-Rhyne Women’s Soccer Team will host Mars Hill in the SAC Quarterfinals on Sunday, Nov. 5. Kick-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.