Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Earns No. 6 Seed in NCAA Tournament
11/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 17, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana men's soccer team was awarded the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face the winner of Drake/Saint Louis in a second-round matchup it was revealed when the 48-team NCAA field was announced Monday night.
With a first-round bye for Indiana, the Hoosiers and the winner of Drake/Saint Louis will meet Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. at Jerry Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for youth (age 3 -high school) and IU students.
"I am happy we are in the tournament, and we are ready to play," said head coach Mike Freitag. "Earning the six seed is a complement to our guys and the schedule that we play."
Defending national champion Wake Forest is the overall No. 1 seed, followed by Maryland, St. John's and Michigan State. A total of 12 of Indiana's 18 regular season opponents made the tournament, including No. 5 Akron, No. 8 South Florida, No. 12 Notre Dame and No. 15 UC Santa Barbara.
The Big Ten is well-represented in the 48-team field with five of its seven members earning bids. Michigan State, the Big Ten regular season and tournament champion, is the No. 4 seed. Michigan earned the No. 11 seed and could possibly match up with the Hoosiers in the third round. Also included in the field were Northwestern and Ohio State.
Indiana is making its 22nd-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and its 33rd trip overall to the postseason. The Hoosiers have advanced to the NCAA College Cup 17 times, winning national titles in 1982, 1983, 1988, 1998, 1999, 2003 and 2004.
Saint Louis enters the tournament with a 11-4-5 record and finished fourth in the Atlantic-10 during the regular season. Drake is 13-4-1 and finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference. Saint Louis and Indiana are old foes, having met 30 times with the Hoosiers holding a 17-9-4 advantage. Drake and IU have met just once, a 2-0 Indiana victory in 1994.
Indiana is 12-6-3 and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament championship game, defeating Ohio State (1-0) and No. 10 Michigan (1-0) along the way before falling to No. 16 Michigan State, 1-0. The Hoosiers are 5-1-2 against teams in the NSCAA/adidas top 25 this season and are 7-3-2 in their last 11 games, including wins in three of their last four.
"The team feels good and I thought we had a strong performance this past weekend," Freitag said. "I am happy about the way we are playing and I like what we are doing on the field right now. We have gotten refocused and have learned from our past mistakes.
"This is do-or-die time, and I hope we will be ready to `do.'"
