UNCG at Georgetown, 1 p.m.

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UNCG faces Georgetown in Thursday's first round of NCAA tournament

UNCG (12-5-4) at Georgetown (11-6-1)
North Kehoe Field, Washington, DC

NCAA Men's Soccer Championship (first round)
Nov. 18, 2010  1 p.m.Video: NCAA.com
LiveStats: NCAA.com

GAME NOTES (PDF)

Storylines

• Georgetown is making its third-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 1997. The Hoyas had won nine straight prior to a regular season ending loss to Notre Dame and a Big East quarterfinal round match against Providence.

 

• UNCG is making its 19th NCAA Tournament appearance overall and 10th since joining Division I 20 seasons ago. The Spartans have advanced to the NCAA Championship's round of 16 each of the last four appearances. As a member of Division III, the Spartans won five national titles - 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1987.

UNCG is 7-8-2 in the NCAA Tournament since joining Division I. However, they are 5-2-2 in their last three appearances.

NCAA Tournament Appearances (19)

2009
2008 (3rd Round)
2006 (3rd Round)
2005 (3rd Round)
2004 (3rd Round)
1998 (2nd Round)
1996 (1st Round)
1995 (1st Round)
1994 (1st Round)
1993 (1st Round)
1990 (Regional)
1989 (Finals)
1987 (Finals - Nat'l Champions)
1986 (Finals - Nat'l  Champions)
1985 (Finals - Nat'l  Champions)
1984 (Quarterfinals)
1983 (Finals - Nat'l  Champions)
1982 (Finals - Nat'l  Champions)
1981 (Regional)

• The Spartans earned an automatic bid by virtue of winning the Southern Conference tournament, defeating Georgia Southern in overtime, 2-1, Appalachian State in overtime, 1-0, and Furman, 1-0. The Spartans were the No. 1 seed in the tournament after sharing the regular season title with Furman and College of Charleston.

• UNCG is unbeaten in its last 11 matches, going 8-0-3 in the span. The Spartans have not lost since October 2 when they dropped a 1-0 overtime decision at home against backyard-rival Elon. UNCG had an eight-day layoff after that game and has ahas turned it around ever since, scoring 25 goals in the 11 matches and surrendering just eight.

The streak is tied for the seventh-longest unbeaten run in school history and the longest since the 2004 season when UNCG began the season unbeaten in 17 straight matches (16-0-1) on its way to a No. 1 national ranking.

• Hakan Ilhan scored all four goals for UNCG in the conference tournament and has been the big spark for the Spartans down the stretch. He has at least one point in eight consecutive matches, scoring 19 points on eight goals and three assists during that time.

Ilhan has 31 points this season, the most since Randi Patterson logged 44 in 2005. He leads the SoCon in points and goals (12). His seven assists rank second in the league behind College of Charleston's Sean DeSilva. At 1.55 points per game, Ilhan also ranked No. 21 in the nation entering the tournament. His 31 points makes him tied for eighth in all of Division I. (Michigan's Soony Saad leads with 40).

• UNCG put a total of five student-athletes on the Southern Conference's all-conference squads. Hakan Ilhan and Kris Byrd earned first-team honors, while Brian Graham, Fannar Arnarsson and Aaron Reifschneider earned second-team slots. UNCG's five honorees were the most among the eight league schools. Graham, Reifschneider, Arnarsson and Adam Shore also earned all-freshman honors from the league's coaches.

• It has been quite a year for Justin Maullin. UNCG's assistant coach for the last five seasons, Maullin took over as interim head coach on Jan. 8. Only nine players returned from last year's roster, so Maullin spent the off-season retooling for his first season as a head coach. A total of 18 players are on the roster that were not with the Spartans a year ago - seven of those started on opening night. All five all-conference honorees are among the newcomers.

Clearly he did something right as he won the school's fifth SoCon Tournament title and grabbed a share of their sixth regular season SoCon crown in 14 seasons of play. Maullin was named the conference's Coach of the Year for his efforts and became the first rookie head coach to win the conference tournament in the 22-year history of the event.

 

College of Charleston vs. East Tennessee State, 7 p.m.

Live Stats

Live Video

Men's Soccer Hosts ETSU in Opening Round of NCAA Tournament

Match will be first ever between Cougars and Buccaneers

CofC Match Notes (PDF)

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston men's soccer team becomes the first CofC program to ever host an NCAA Tournament event when the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers come to Patriots Point for the opening round of the 2010 NCAA Men's Soccer Championships on Thursday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m.

The Cougars (10-4-3) became only the second team in Southern Conference history to ever receive an at-large bid to the tournament. 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. The Cougars look to bounce back from a 1-3 loss to Davidson which eliminated them from the SoCon Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 6.

"After that loss to Davidson, the feeling of disappoint was tremendous," said head coach Ralph Lundy. "There was a huge weight on all the players and coaches. But because of our hard work, we got this at-large bid and our team deserved it.

"Now what we have to do is get the job done against a very good ETSU team that has had great results this season."

CofC is making its fifth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars made the dance three consecutive years from 1995-96. The Cougars made their deepest run in the 1994 tournament when they advanced to the third round before being eliminated by UCLA. The Cougars' most recent trip came in 2004 when they advanced to the second round where they were eliminated by SoCon foe UNC Greensboro, which is also made this year's tournament by way of winning the SoCon Tournament.

ETSU (15-5-0) received the Atlantic Sun's automatic bid to the tournament when they beat Stetson, 1-0, in the tournament final on a golden goal in the 95th minute. The Bucs are making their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the program's four-year history.

ETSU is coming into the game having won eight of its last nine matches including the semifinals and finals of the A-Sun Championship. The Bucs' last loss came on Oct. 10 when they suffered a lopsided, 5-0 defeat to Florida Gulf Coast.

This match marks the first-ever meeting between these two programs. The squads faced four common opponents in 2010, with CofC going 1-1-2 against those opponents. ETSU was 3-2-0 against their shared opponents.

The winner of Thursday's match will advance to the second round to face tournament No. 1 seed Louisville on Sunday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Cardinal Park Track and Soccer Complex.

The Cougars have fared well within the confines of Patriots Point this season. CofC has gone 5-1-1 at home and outscored its opponents 17-6 in front of an average crowd of 627 fans.

Tickets to Thursday's match will be available at the Patriots Point ticket office. Tickets will be $5 for the general public and $3 for all students, college and below.

The CofC Department of Athletics is purchasing all tickets for current CofC students. Every CofC student must present his or her college ID at the box office to receive a free ticket. No one will be admitted without a ticket.

For fans unable to travel to Patriots Point, there will be a free audio and visual streaming of the match available for free.