Southern States Athletic Conference

 

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Berry men's soccer team backed up its regular season conference title with a 3-0 win over Lee to claim the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament title on Saturday. On Monday two Berry players earned the honor of being named conference players of the week. Tournament MVP Hall McKinley was the defensive selection, while Teja Barkmann was the offensive leader of the team.

 

McKinley, a sophomore from Atlanta, Ga., helped lead the Berry defense, which did not concede a goal in 180 minutes of play at the tournament. He made sure that Berry maintained its second shutout of the tournament in the final againt Lee with a diving effort to save a ball off the goal-line, which had already beaten SSAC Player of the Year Mike Wentzler. McKinley was a key player for the Berry defense all season, as the team has allowed just 16 goals in 18 matches this season.

 

Barkmann, a junior, striker from Herne, Germany, led the offensive attack for Berry during the week. His penalty goal against Reinhardt stood up as the match-winner, as did his first-half header goal against Lee in the finals. That gave Barkmann a team-high 10 goals for the season. In addition to scoring, Barkmann also provided two assists to lead all players at the tournament with six points in two matches.

 

Berry is now 15-2 for the year and is ranked No. 10 in the NAIA National Rankings.