UNCG to face Georgetown in NCAA Men's Soccer Championship first round
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - UNCG, winners of the Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles, will hit the road to face Georgetown on Thursday at 1 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship.
UNCG enters the tournament with a record of 12-5-4 and has an 11-game unbeaten streak (8-0-3). The Spartans haven't lost since a 1-0 overtime setback at home against Elon. UNCG shared the Southern Conference's regular season title and won the conference tournament crown this past weekend with a 1-0 win over Furman.
Georgetown comes into the tournament with a mark of 11-6-1. The Hoyas lost to Providence at home in the Big East quarterfinals on Nov. 6. Georgetown moved into the Top 25 by reeling off nine straight wins before a 3-0 loss at Notre Dame to end the regular season and then the loss to Providence in the conference tournament.
"We are excited to win another SoCon title, that's why student-athletes come to our program," said UNCG coach Justin Maullin. "We hope to have a repeat of our recent success in the NCAA Championship. We know it isn't easy because there are only 48 teams remaining. Having said that, we have a very determined group and we are looking forward to the challenge on Thursday."
The Spartans will make their 19th NCAA Championship appearance, 10th in the Division I era. UNCG's last four NCAA appearances have resulted in trips to the round of 16 (2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008).
The Hoyas, an at-large selection, are making their first tournament appearance since 1997 and second overall. Georgetown last hosted a first round match in 1994. In 1997, Georgetown defeated VCU in the opening round before falling to Virginia.
UNCG leads the all-time series, 3-0, having beaten the Hoyas in 1989, 1993, 2007.
The winner of the UNCG-Georgetown match will face fourth-seeded North Carolina on Sunday at 6 p.m.
Men's Soccer is Going Dancing
Cougars receive at-large bid to NCAA Tournament; host ETSU in opening round
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The College of Charleston men's soccer team received an at-large bid to the NCAA 2010 Men's Soccer Championship on Monday evening. The Cougars also received the opportunity to host the opening-round match and will take on East Tennessee State University at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 18 at Patriots Point.
The Cougars gathered at Patriots Point on Monday afternoon to watch the Selection Show as a team and didn't have to wait long as College of Charleston appeared on the first bracket revealed in the program.
With an opening-round win over ETSU, the Cougars would advance to face tournament No. 1 seed Louisville on Sunday, Nov. 21.
"We feel great about the game on Thursday night and hosting a very good East Tennessee State University team," said head coach Ralph Lundy. "The key is that we maintained quality soccer throughout the entire season, played a very tough schedule and got good results. Because of that, we established a very high RPI that kept us in the running."
The Cougars opened the season with a pair of hard-fought, 1-0 losses to top-15 programs in Ohio State and Penn State but then began garnering national attention by stringing together 10 wins and going unbeaten in twelve matches, including a statement win over then-ranked No. 19 Wake Forest.
The Cougars climbed as high No. 25 in the NASCA Coach's Poll and No. 10 in NCAA RPI this season and are excited about the opportunity to overcome a three-match season-ending winless streak which left a bad taste in their mouths.
"I think the boys were very disappointed in how we finished out the regular season and the conference and I see unbelievable energy in them right now to be able to take care of things on Thursday," said Lundy. "We love our home stadium and all season we've had a tremendous following. It is a very big plus to have this game here at Patriots Point, our first ever in the NCAA Tournament."