Men's Soccer: Wright Named to Preseason Team
August 10, 2006 01:45 PM | General
August 10, 2006
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| Andy Wright |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The BIG EAST men’s soccer coaches selected West Virginia University soccer player Andy Wright to the all-BIG EAST preseason team, while they picked the Mountaineers fifth in the conference’s Blue Division on Thursday, Aug. 10.
Wright started 19 of 22 games for WVU as a sophomore in 2005, scoring five goals and tallying two assists. The Liverpool, England, native was selected to the all-BIG EAST second team at the end of last season along with teammates Jarrod Smith and Nick Noble.
The 2006 season marks the second consecutive year that the Mountaineers have been selected to finish fifth in the Blue Division. Connecticut was picked the division’s best with 11 first-place votes, while Notre Dame, Seton Hall and Providence were selected second, third and fourth, respectively. Georgetown was picked sixth, Marquette seventh and Pitt eighth to round out the division.
Last season West Virginia finished third in the division with a 6-4-1 conference record and an overall record of 13-8-2. The Mountaineers advanced to the second round of the BIG EAST tournament to earn its first NCAA tournament bid since 1992 and advance to the second round for only the second time in school history.
South Florida took nine of the first-place votes in the Red Division to sit atop, while St. John’s was voted a close second with seven votes.
As the largest Division I men’s soccer conference in the nation, the 16 teams have to play a schedule that would meet the needs of all of the league schools. A round-robin rotational 11-game schedule within two divisions of eight teams make up conference play. Each team plays seven opponents within its division and four opponents from the other division.
The 2006 BIG EAST men's soccer championship will feature 12 of the league’s top 16 teams. The top six teams in each division, seeded by conference point total, qualify for the conference championship. The top two teams in each division earn a first-round bye to the quarterfinals. The first round and quarterfinal games will be held on the campuses of the higher seeded teams. First round games will be held on Oct. 25 or 26, with the quarterfinals following on Oct. 28 or 29.
Rutgers University will serve as host for the semifinals (Nov. 3) and the championship game (Nov. 5). Selection and seeding are based on regular season conference records. The champion receives the league's automatic bid to the 48-team NCAA Division I men's soccer championship. For the first time the NCAA men’s and women’s soccer championships will be played in conjunction with each other, moving the men’s championship a week earlier.
College Sports Television (CSTV) will air both semifinal games live. The championship game will be broadcast live on select BIG EAST regional outlets.
