DATE: Nov. 1, 2014

Stats at a Glance PC CC Record 7-11 12-4-2 Goals/GM 1.89 2.60 Goals Allowed/GM 2.14 0.80 Shots/GM 13.4 16.5 Shot % .140 .155 Shot on Goal % .488 .495 Save % .703 .808 Shutouts 2 7

TIME: 2:30 pm ET
LOCATION: Lookout Mtn., GA
FACILITY: Scotland Yard, cap. 600
LAST MEETING: CC 4-1 (10/28/14 @ PC)
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STORYLINES
--Rematch of 4-1 result that went Covenant's way just four days earlier
--First ever conference postseason meeting between the two
--Both teams looking for first postseason win as USA South member
--Covenant was upset in 2013 as #4 seed falling to Averett in PK's

MATCH FACTS
Piedmont travels up the mountain to face the Scots of Covenant College in a USA South Quarterfinal contest on Saturday, November 1 to begin the 2014 USA South Championship Tournament.  The match will kickoff at 2:30 pm at Covenant's Scotland Yard with a capacity of 600.  

THE COACHES
For the Lions, Head Coach Jimmy Stephens is currently in his 10th year leading the program and has led the Green and Gold into the USA South postseason in each year PC has been a member of the league.  Stephens is looking for his first USA South postseason win but is no stranger to postseason success taking the Lions to five championship games as a Great South Athletic Conference member including a title run in 2006, his second year on staff.

Nathan Pifer is in his 6th season as the leader of the Covenant College Scots, a program which has had only five different head coaches since 1968.  A graduate of Covenant himself, Pifer is 68-43-12 coming into Saturday as the leader of the Scots and owns more than 260 wins as a college head coach in his 18-year career at four different institutions.

SCOUTING COVENANT
Currently riding a 5-game winning streak, Covenant enters the USA South championships with the #2 seed in the tournament as Greensboro College finished as the league's regular season champion.  Covenant will be a tough test at home as they are 8-1-1 at Scotland Yard in 2014, and have only lost twice at home in the last two seasons.  Sure-fire USA South All-Conference performer Snoopy Davidson looks to be the key to the Scots' performance on the year as he has scored nine times on the year while adding six assists, both of which are team highs.  The former Univ. of South Carolina transfer is tied for 2nd in the USA South in points as well with 24, the same amount that Piedmont's VINCENT THOMAS has accumulated this season as well.  

SERIES RECORDS
Piedmont has matched up with Covenant in conference play in all but one season since 2009 with the Scots taking all five of those decisions.  Three of Covenant's wins over the Lions have come by three goals or more.

THIS IS GETTING OFFENSIVE
Piedmont's youthful roster has provided Head Coach Jimmy Stephens with several thrilling moments in 2014 as the three-man front of VINCENT THOMAS, CHASE KANE, and RYAN HERBERT has been one of the more difficult attacks for opposing defenses to deal with.  Those three have accounted for six of Piedmont's seven game-winning goals on the year and have taken more than half of Piedmont's total shots this season.  All three are also in the league's top 13 in total points.  Piedmont has only been shutout twice this year.

HIT THE ROAD
Playing away from home is a bit welcomed by PC right now as the squad rides a three-game losing streak with all three of those losses coming at home by a combined 11-2 score.  Despite being ready to step away from the unfriendly confines, Piedmont needs to be careful what it wishes for as Covenant owns the 2nd-best home record at 8-1-1 behind only Methodist's undefeated 8-0 mark on the year.

TRYING TO PicK AN UPSET
Since the USA South went to an 8-team tournament format in 2012, there have only been two upsets in the quarterfinal round of the men's soccer championship tournament.  Both of those have come in the #4 seed vs. #5 seed matchup, and each match has had to go to PK's to decide a winner.  One of those upsets did come against a member of the Piedmont-Covenant quarterfinal matchup as Covenant fell last season as the #4 seed to the 5th seeded Cougars of Averett. 

A LOOK AT 2014
Youth was very apparent for the 2014 Lions as a rejuvenated Piedmont men's soccer squad flush with new faces raced out to a 5-2 start winning their first three games at Walker Athletic Complex.  However, going on the road for all but one of their next six contests took its toll on the Lions as Piedmont dropped six of its next seven decisions and finished the year on a three-game losing streak.  Despite the results, hopes are high with this new young group of Lions as eight of Piedmont's 11 losses were only one-goal games with three of those coming in overtime.  PC also boasts three of the league's top ten scorers - two of those leaders for the Green and Gold are just freshman as well (CHASE KANE, RYAN HERBERT).

LAST TIME OUT: COVENANT COLLEGE
Piedmont's last match also came against the Scots as Covenant handed PC a 4-1 loss in Demorest on Tuesday.  Covenant led only 1-0 at the half with Piedmont earning several opportunities to level the score, but a trio of scores by the Scots in the final 45 minutes was too much for Head Coach Jimmy Stephens and his squad to overcome in the USA South matchup.

A quartet of seniors were honored just prior to kickoff for the Lions as ROBERT WILLIAMS, VINCENT THOMAS, JAMES THOMAS, and CODI SCHUTZ all received recognition for their contribution to the men's soccer program over the last four years.  

Despite the run of play belonging to Covenant for most of the night, senior VINCENT THOMAS would of course have something to say about the Lions being shut out so far on the evening when he finally broke through the Covenant back line and scored his season-high 9th goal of 2014, tying his single season career high set in his junior season. 

NEXT UP FOR PIEDMONT
A Piedmont win over Covenant in the quarters would set up a date with either 6th seeded Averett University or 3rd seeded NC Wesleyan College.  The Lions would have to like their chances in either matchup as Piedmont lost to both of those squads in overtime in 2014.