CENTRAL, S.C. – A furious rally came up just short as Southern Wesleyan fell 3-2 to Southern Poly State in the regular season finale for both squads on Saturday night.

Both the Warriors and Hornets will be heading to the SSAC tournament beginning next Saturday (11/9) at campus sites.

Southern Poly (9-5-2, 5-5-1 SSAC) got on the board first as a foul in the box gave the Hornets a penalty kick in the 35th minute.  Omar Kanteh stepped up and delivered the ball into the back of the net for the game's first goal.

The game headed to the break with that 1-0 score but the Hornets weren't done.  Southern Poly only took three shots in the second half, but scored on two of those, both times getting the ball deep along the left side and crossing it right in front of the goal.  James Harris was the recipient in the 58th minute from Julian Tonges then it was Eduardo Abichabki from Kanteh in the 75th.

The Warriors were much more aggressive in the second half even before giving up those two goals and ended up taking 15 shots in the half, 19 for the game.  It was a very physical game as 33 fouls were called, 22 on the Hornets.

The game changed in the 81st minute when Southern Poly's Ousman Ceesay was given a red card and sent off after pulling down a SWU attacker from behind.  Bruno Liozzi stepped up and chipped the ball over the wall from just outside the 18-yard box past a frozen goalkeeper.

Moments later in the 82nd minute another foul and another card – this time a yellow, one of nine total cards handed out – gave Liozzi another free kick.  This time from further out the junior delivered his second goal of the game with a high drive that knocked the keeper back into the goal as he tried to keep the ball from crossing the line.

The Warriors got several chances over the final eight minutes to equalize but nonetheless came up short.

  
The Warriors look to be the 5th seed in the upcoming SSAC tournament while Southern Poly sits in a tie with Bethel for 6th.  Those two teams tied in their meeting this year.  SWU will likely head to Belhaven as the Blazers were jumped by Martin Methodist in the standings with the Redhawks win late on Saturday.

The official seeds and bracket will be released by the SSAC and we will give you all the information you need to know to follow the Warriors throughout the tournament.