BUENA VISTA, Va. – The Southern Virginia University men's soccer team travels to Fayetteville, North Carolina for the first round of the USA South conference tournament Tuesday with kickoff set for 4 p.m.

The Knights stormed into the playoff conversation after a win on the road at Mary Baldwin, scoring in the last minute to earn their first win of the season. Then, in a must-win game over the weekend, the team maintained its composure and stuck to the game plan after giving up a goal just five minutes after getting on the board. Coach Payden Pemberton sent almost everyone forward, searching for the game-winning goal which the Knights eventually found by way of a Josh Dubinsky header in the 84^th minute. The team held onto the lead, making Dubinsky's tally the playoff-clinching moment.

Ammon Lewis, who has been plagued by injury all year, had two goals and an assist in his first two starts of the campaign during Southern Virginia's 2-0 week. His stellar performance earned him conference player of the week.

"Our confidence in the last two games and having Ammon back is almost simultaneous," said coach Pemberton. "Clearly a player with his quality can help to bolster our chances at scoring and winning games but also to bolster everyone's faith. We've also had more senior players playing recently with less injuries in general and that has done wonders to helping us feel confident and play well. Our freshmen are great but nothing beats experience."

Southern Virginia will look to Lewis and senior Sam Melo to continue to create scoring opportunities against a Methodist team that has only allowed six goals in league play. In the first matchup between the schools just over two weeks ago, the Knights found themselves in dangerous positions but were unable to convert. Matthew Walker, goalkeeper for the Monarchs, leads the USA South in goals against and save percentage and will look to continue his dominance in goal in the playoffs.

"Our plan for scoring goals doesn't really change," added the Knights head coach. "There will be chances for us tomorrow if we play how we have trained all season, we will just need to execute in those critical moments."

Methodist is lead offensively by junior, Hudson Zeisman. The forward leads the team in both goals and assists with five and six respectively. His six assists are third most in the conference. In the previous matchup, Zeisman contributed on both goals, scoring one and assisting the other in the 2-0 victory for the Monarchs.

"Hudson is a great player and certainly can contribute a lot," continued Pemberton. "A key feature of his abilities is his long throw in which we have prepared to deal with. We also have very capable players on his side of the field defensively who will start the game and great defenders to come off the bench to wear him down and prevent him from getting the ball."

Visit https://mumonarchs.com/watch/?Live=1349&type=Live to keep up with the game live.

For all the most up-to-date information regarding Southern Virginia University men's soccer, please visit knightathletics.com and follow @knightmsoccer on Instagram.