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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern Sharks begin hosting the SSC Conference Tournament Final Four with semifinal matches this Friday, Nov. 5 at the NSU Soccer Complex at 4:30 p.m. The first game will be against No. 2 seeded Florida Tech and No. 3 seeded Florida Southern, which will be followed by No. 1 seeded Nova Southeastern and No. 4 seeded Tampa at 7 p.m.

The Panthers (9-5-1, 5-2-1 SSC) and the Mocs (9-5-2, 5-3-0 SSC) meet again tomorrow, just facing each other a week ago. Both teams met for their last regular season match of the 2010 season with Florida Tech edging the Mocs 2-0 in Melbourne, Fla. With the win, the Panthers captured them a share of the regular season league title with NSU. During their last match the Panthers got out to an early lead striking in the first goal in the sixth minute of action, then followed by adding another goal with less than nine minutes left in the first half. The Panthers then relied on defense to close out the victory in the second half. Florida Tech showed more offensive prowess in the match holding a 14-10 advantage in total shots and an 8-7 edge in shots-on-goal. The Panthers also edged the Mocs 10-1 in corners.

The second match will see No. 1 seeded Nova Southeastern (9-5-1, 5-2-1 SSC) take on the Spartans of the University of Tampa (13-5-0, 6-3-0 SSC) with a scheduled time of 7 p.m. This marks the 13th all-time meeting between the two programs with the Sharks trailing 2-9-1 overall. The two teams will be meeting in the SSC post-season for the third time where the Spartans lead 2-0 in post-season matches. Although trailing in the all-time series, the Sharks have beaten the Spartans in back-to-back years in the regular season.

In NSU’s meeting with Tampa this year the Sharks played one of their best defensive games in program history edging out the Spartans 1-0 in Tampa. The game got off to a slow start with NSU edging Tampa 3-2 in total shots for the first 45 minutes of action. NSU keeper Chrissy Hy’s (Jr., Weston, Fla.) hands stayed clean as she recording no saves in the first half. The Sharks became more aggressive in second half, boasting a 6-1 edge in total shots breaking the goal line with a penalty kick in 51st minute of action from Alexis Hernandez (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) for the lone goal of the game. Overall, the Sharks led in total shots 9-3 and corners 5-2. Hy recorded zero saves for the match, while Tampa’s keeper Leah Cesanek tallied four saves on the night. Tampa played a much more physical match, proven by a 15-3 edge in fouls.

The winners of these two matches will face-off on Sunday for the Sunshine State Conference Tournament title at the NSU Soccer Complex at 1 p.m. You can catch Live Stats and Box Scores through the tournament page at NSUSharks.com or by following this LINK.