Carson-Newman, Tusculum Earn Bids To NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS --- The NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Committee announced today the field of 32 teams for the 2008 Division II Men's Soccer Championship, and Tusculum College has been selected as the number one seed and the host for the Southeast Regional Tournament.

Tusculum (18-2-1) and Lees-McRae (15-2-3) receive first round byes and will face the winners of the two first round matches on Wednesday. Francis Marion University and Carson-Newman College will square off on Wednesday in Jefferson City, Tenn. at 7 p.m., while Lander University and Limestone College will play a 1 p.m. match on Wednesday in Gaffney, S.C.

The winner of the Lander/Limestone match will then face Lees-McRae on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Pioneer Field. Tusculum will face the winner of Francis Marion and Carson-Newman on Friday at 7 p.m. The semifinal winners will square off for the Southeast Region championship on Sunday at 2 p.m.

This marks the second year Tusculum has hosted an NCAA II Regional, and the third time in school history.

The Carson-Newman Eagles received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division Men's Soccer Tournament.

Carson-Newman (11-4-2) will host Francis Marion (13-4-3) on Wednesday night at McCown Field in Jefferson City. The match begins at 7 p.m.

The C-N/Francis Marion winner will advance to face Tusculum on Friday in Greeneville, Tennessee with a berth in the quarterfinals, to be played on November 22 or 23, on the line.

On the opposite side of C-N's half of the Super Region Two bracket are Lees-McRae, who has an opening round bye, and Limestone of Conference Carolinas, and the Peach Belt Conference's second representative, joining FMU, Lander.

C-N beat the Patriots 5-0 in Jefferson City on September 13 behind two goals from Ben Backstrom.

The Eagles are 1-2 against their regional field, losing 1-0 to both Tusculum and Lees-McRae earlier this season.

Last season Carson-Newman ended Tusculum's season with a 3-1 win in the NCAA Tournament, but dropped its second round match to eventual-national runner-up Lincoln Memorial, 2-1.

All-time, the Eagles are 3-5-1 in the NCAA Tournament.

The national semifinals and finals are December 4 and 6 in Tampa, Fla.

Wednesday, November 12
Lander vs. Limestone, 1 p.m. (Gaffney, S.C.)
Francis Marion vs. Carson-Newman, 7 p.m. (Jefferson City, Tenn.)

Friday, November 14
Game 1 - No. 2 Lees-McRae vs. No. 4 Lander/Limestone, 4 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 1 Tusculum vs. Francis Marion/Carson-Newman, 7 p.m.

Sunday, November 16
Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2