Men’s Soccer To Host NCAAs
November 14, 2011 05:30 PM | General
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKETMORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The West Virginia University men’s soccer team will make its 2011 NCAA Tournament debut on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 5 p.m., at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The Mountaineers will play host to Xavier in the first round for the second-consecutive season.
“It’s oddly very, very familiar and I think this year we know a little bit more about them and they know a little bit more about us,” coach Marlon LeBlanc says. “They alluded to the fact that there’s only 48 teams that get in and this year being one of the deepest fields I’ve ever seen in the 12 years I’ve been associated with college soccer. I’m interested to see how things are going to play out. This is the deepest field I think we’ve ever had in men’s soccer.”
Last season it only took Xavier five minutes to build a 2-0 lead against the Mountaineers, before Franck Tayou scored three-straight goals to help the Mountaineers to a 4-2 victory.
WVU has a 4-1 series lead over Xavier, including a 3-0 mark at home.
This will be West Virginia’s 11th tournament appearance and fourth in the last six seasons. After defeating Xavier last season, WVU traveled to Akron where they fell to the Zips 3-2.
Xavier received an automatic berth following another improbable run through the Atlantic 10 Championship. No. 6 seed Xavier tied No. 2 seed George Washington and then won the championship by way of penalty kicks on Sunday afternoon. The Musketeers defeated the tournament’s top three seeds and currently have a 12-4-4 record. This was the second-consecutive season that Xavier beat the tournament’s top three seeds to earn the automatic berth.
Xavier is led by second year head coach Andy Fleming and are paced by Luke Spencer, who leads the team with seven goals and five assists for 19 points. In net, Justin Marshall has started 15 games, giving up 14 goals and making 57 saves.
Ticket prices are $7 for adults and $5 for youth and senior citizens. Admission is free for West Virginia University students with a valid student ID.
There will be 16 games in the first round, with the winners advancing to play a top 16 seeded team on Sunday, Nov. 20. The third round will be played on Sunday, Nov. 27, followed by the quarterfinals which will be held on Dec. 2. The NCAA Men’s College Cup will be played Dec. 9 and 11 at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.
For the second-consecutive season, the BIG EAST has the most qualifiers with seven teams participating in the 2011 NCAA Championship: Connecticut, Louisville, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, USF and West Virginia.
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