BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - Freshman Chris Elliott exploded for three second-half goals to lift No. 3 seed Union College to a 4-1 Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament victory over visiting No. 6 Tennessee Wesleyan College Saturday.

The tournament victory was first for Union since Nov. 6, 2002, when the Bulldogs downed Tennessee Wesleyan 7-1. Since then, Union has gone 0-6-1 in the AAC Tournament and missed the postseason in 2005.

Union trailed 1-0 at the half but rallied for four second-half goals for the 4-1goal victory.

"It just shows you that you can't let up. We gave up one big crossing play, and they scored on it in the first half," said Union coach Tyler Brock.

While their names do not show up in the scoring line, Jonathan Sutton (Portsmouth, England), Rahul Kooner (Surrey, Canada) and Tyler Baker (Burlington, Ky.) did a great job controlling the middle and creating havoc upfront for Union.

"Those three did a super job for us today, controlling play and giving us good scoring opportunities," Brock said. "While Elliott was the big goal scorer for us, those three had a lot to do in us getting those goals. It was a collective team effort today."

Union (10-5-2 overall) now awaits the winner of the game between No. 2 Bryan (Tenn.) College and No. 7 Bluefield (Va.) College. The AAC semifinal and championship rounds will be played Friday and Saturday at a yet to be determined site.

Down 1-0 at the break, Union really cranked up the offense. Elliott (Isle of Wight, England) netted his first goal in the 52nd minute off a nice assist from Edwin Hobson (Dayton, Ohio) to even the score at 1-1.

In the 65th minute, Aaron Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio) set up Elliott's second goal as his booming shot from 25 yards out ricocheted off the post. Elliott then knocked the loose ball from six-yards out for 2-1 Union lead.

Baker nearly scored when he scorched a shot in the 73rd minute, but Duane Rikard made the save but was unable to control the rebound. Elliott was right there to drive the loose ball home for his third goal, putting Union up 3-1.

Four minutes later, Baker was dragged down in the box to set up a penalty kick for Union. Senior Danny Bartlett (Edgewood, Ky.) took the kick and drilled it into the back of the net to the left of Rikard for a 4-1 Union lead.

Union outshot Tennessee Wesleyan 20-16 with 10 shots going on goal as compared to six for Tennessee Wesleyan. Jonathan Shaw (Merseyside, England recorded five saves in the win, while Rikard had six.

In the first half, Union had a number of scoring chances as it fired eight shots with four going on frame. However, Union could not find the back of the net.

Tennessee Wesleyan, meanwhile, took advantage of a late foul by Union and quickly netted a goal. After a foul by Miller, Mitchell Slawson slipped a long crossing pass from John Carrier past Shaw, putting Tennessee Wesleyan up 1-0 in the 40th minute.

Bulldog Notes

• The hat trick was the first for Chris Elliott this season but his second multi-goal game. He had two goals and three assists in the 19-0 win over Tennessee Temple University on Sept. 19.
• Elliott now leads the team in scoring with nine goals and 25 points.
  
• This marks the third year in a row Union has won 10 games in a season. The last time that happened was from 1996-01 when the Bulldogs won 10 or more games six years in a row.