MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – No. 1 seed St. Thomas (12-1-1) defeated no. 5 seed SCAD-Savannah (7-9) 3-0 in The Sun Conference Championship tournament semifinals on Tuesday night at Bobcat Field.  With the win, the Bobcats advanced to the Sun Conference Championship Finals where they will face no. 2 seed Keiser at 7:30 p.m. this Friday night at Bobcat Field.  The winner of The Sun Conference Championship finals will receive an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships.

St. Thomas, ranked 13th in the nation, continued to dominate Sun Conference competition with the performance vs. SCAD Savannah.  The Bobcats have a perfect 10-0 record against conference opponents this season and have won 12 straight matches vs. Sun Conference opponents dating back to last season.  The goal differential vs. conference opponents this season is staggering with the Bobcats outscoring conference opponents 38-3.

Konstantinos Mylonas, Tomas Greco and Federico Moronell each scored for the Bobcats, while Santiago Dirrocco recorded to assists to lead the Bobcats' offensive charge. 

Goalkeeper Connor Christie registered the shutout for St. Thomas, his fourth shutout of the year and the  seventh overall shutout of the season by STU goalkeepers.   The defense, led by starting defenders Santeri Bergman, Harry Molyneux, Christian Giraldo and Spiridon Karidis continued its suffocation of opposing offenses, holding the Bees to just five shots and three shots on goal.  On the season, the Bobcats have allowed just three goals against conference opponents.

The Bobcats struck quickly, setting the tone right away in the semifinal match up.  In just the fourth minute of action, Mylonas, off an assist by Dirrocco, scored on a header that ricocheted off the post.  The goal marked the 10th of the season for Mylonas.

Dirroco delivered another assist in the 15th minute finding Greco in open space who chipped the ball over the SCAD goalkeeper to put STU up 2-0.  It marked the fifth goal of the year for Greco and brought Dirrocco's assist total to four on the season.

The two teams remained tied throughout the rest of the first half with the Bobcat midfield of Greco, Dirrocco, Jon Quintana and Pablo Gil controlling the possession.

The second half remained scoreless as well until Federico Moronell scored his team-best 15th goal of the season with just 38.1 seconds to cap off the victory.

St. Thomas, the 2017 regular-season Sun Conference Champions, won the Sun Conference Tournament Championship last year to advance to the Opening Round of the NAIA National Championships.  The Bobcats will be looking to win back-to-back Sun Conference tournaments for the first time in school history on Friday vs. Keiser. 

As the number one seed, the Bobcats will host the Championship Finals on Friday night as well as The Sun Conference Championship Awards Banquet on Thursday night.  The St. Thomas vs. Keiser championship final is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday night at Bobcat Field.  Live broadcast coverage and live stats will be provided at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/stu/