Nov. 19, 2007

AMHERST, Mass. - Coming off the 2007 Atlantic 10 Championship title this past weekend, the UMass men's soccer team learned it will host Boston University of the America East Conference on Friday at Noon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be held a Rudd Field. The Minutemen enter the NCAA Tournament with a 13-7-1 record, while the Terriers are 9-6-4. The two sides met earlier this season at Rudd Field with UMass winning 1-0.

Tickets for Friday's game will priced as follows: $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, and $2 for UMass students. Fans can call the UMass Ticket office at 413-545-0810 or 866-UMASS-TIX for ordering information.

This is UMass' second ever berth to the NCAA Tournament with its last appearance coming in 2001. The Minutemen defeated Creighton in the first round before falling to St. John's.

Led by goalkeeper Zack Simmons (Durham, N.H.) and a strong defense anchored by senior Kenny Cook (Fairport, N.Y.) and redshirt junior Chris Brown (Tucson, Ariz.) the Minutemen have one of the top defenses in the country. Simmons ranks ninth nationally in save percentage (.855) and holds the UMass single-season goals against average (.74) to go with his school record 23 career shutouts in just three seasons. Cook and Brown have started 60 consecutive games in the middle of a defensive unit that has 19 shutouts in the last two seasons.

The Minutemen started the season slowly going 2-4 over the first six games, but have posted an 11-3-1 mark since then including three straight wins in the Atlatic 10 Tournament.

The NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Committee announced on Monday evening the bracket for the 2007 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.

The teams will be vying for the right to compete at the 2007 NCAA Men's College Cup December 14 and 16 in Cary, North Carolina, at SAS Soccer Park. North Carolina State University, the Capital Area Soccer League and the Town of Cary will host the championship.

Boston College, the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament champion, was awarded the No. 1 seed. Wake Forest University earned the No. 2 seed. The University of Connecticut was named the No. 3 seed, while Indiana University, Bloomington, earned the No. 4 seed.

The remaining top 16 seeds in order are Ohio State University; Brown University; Santa Clara University; Creighton University; Northwestern University: University of Notre Dame: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; University of California, Santa Barbara; University of Maryland, College Park; University of Akron; West Virginia University; and University of Tulsa. The top 16 teams receive a first-round bye.

Twenty-two conferences were awarded automatic bids for the 2007 tournament. The remaining 26 teams were selected at large.

The automatic qualifying conferences and their representatives are as follows: America East Conference, University of Vermont; Atlantic Coast, Boston College; Atlantic 10 Conference, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Atlantic Sun Conference, Campbell University; Big East Conference, Connecticut; Big South Conference, Liberty University; Big Ten Conference, Ohio State; Big West Conference, UC Santa Barbara; Colonial Athletic Association, Old Dominion University; Conference USA, Tulsa; Horizon League, University of Illinois at Chicago; Ivy Group, Brown University; Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Loyola College (Maryland); Mid-American Conference, Akron; Missouri Valley Conference, Bradley University; Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, University of New Mexico; Northeast Conference, Central Connecticut State University; Patriot League, Colgate University; Southern Conference, Furman University; Summit League, Oakland University; and West Coast Conference, Santa Clara.

Six teams will be making their first appearance in the tournament: Central Connecticut State, Campbell, DePaul University, Liberty, the University of Louisville and the University of California, Davis. The Big East led all conferences with seven teams in the tournament field, while the ACC had six.

UC Santa Barbara won its first title ever at the 2006 Men's College Cup, 2-1, against the University of California, Los Angeles, at the Robert R. Hermann Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.

All first-round games will be played either November 23 or 24, while all second-round action will take place on November 28.

Listed below are the first-round sites and match-ups as well as the site and opponent in the second round:

Amherst, Massachusetts
First round - Boston U. at Massachusetts (Nov. 23-Noon)
Second round - Winner at Boston College (Nov. 28-7 p.m.)

Boston, Massachusetts
First round - Central Connecticut at Harvard (Nov. 24-1 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at Tulsa (Nov. 28-7 p.m.)

St. Louis, Missouri
First round - Illinois-Chicago at Saint Louis (Nov. 23-7 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at Northwestern (Nov. 28-7 p.m.)

Dallas, Texas
First round - Gonzaga at SMU (Nov. 24-7 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at Creighton (Nov. 28-7 p.m.)

Louisville, Kentucky
First round - Duke at Louisville (Nov. 23-7 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at Ohio State (Nov. 28-7:30 p.m.)

Seattle, Washington
First round - Portland at Washington (Nov. 23-7 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 28-7 p.m.)

Baltimore, Maryland
First round - Liberty at Loyola (Maryland) (Nov. 24-1 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at Maryland (Nov. 28-5 p.m.)

Peoria, Illinois
First round - DePaul at Bradley (Nov. 24-7 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at Indiana (Nov. 28-7 p.m.)

Hanover, New Hampshire
First round - Vermont at Dartmouth (Nov. 24-7 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at Connecticut (Nov. 28-7 p.m.)

Tampa, Florida
First round - Colgate at South Florida (Nov. 23-7:30 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at Akron (Nov. 28-7:30 p.m.)

Berkley, California
First round - UC Davis at California (Nov. 23-1:30 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at Virginia Tech (Nov. 28-7 p.m.)

Norfolk, Virginia
First round - Providence at Old Dominion (Nov. 24-7 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at Brown (Nov. 28-7 p.m.)

Los Angeles, California
First round- New Mexico at UCLA (Nov. 24-7 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at Santa Clara (Nov. 28-7 p.m.)

East Lansing, Michigan
First round - Oakland at Michigan State (TBD)
Second round - Winner at Notre Dame (Nov. 28-7:30 p.m.)

Charlottesville, Virginia
First round - St. Peter's at Virginia (Nov. 23-5 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at West Virginia (Nov. 28-7 p.m.)

Greenville, South Carolina
First round - Campbell at Furman (Nov. 24-2 p.m.)
Second round - Winner at Wake Forest (Nov. 28-7 p.m.)