NCAA men's soccer
Photo by Mark Jordan November 15, 2016
UD travels to Providence for NCAA men's soccer match
Fresh off its first Colonial Athletic Association championship since 2011, the University of Delaware men’s soccer team will face host Providence College in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The Blue Hens will take on the Friars in a match at 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 17, at Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island.
“Playing in the NCAA tournament is a special experience for any student-athlete in any sport,” said UD head coach Ian Hennessy. “There are so many players that never get to experience this occasion, so I encourage our lads to savor every minute. We have two well-known opponents coming up and this group has already shown that they are more than capable of competing with the best in the nation. We are looking forward to getting the ball rolling again.”
The winner of Thursday’s contest will face No. 1 seed and top-ranked Maryland in second round action Sunday. Game time is slated for 5 p.m. in College Park, Maryland.
UD (12-7-1) is making its fifth NCAA championship tournament appearance. The Blue Hens last appeared in 2013, receiving an at-large bid, and also appeared in the tournament in 2011 after winning the CAA title. UD advanced to the second round in 2011. Historically, UD also appeared in 1968 and 1970.
Providence, which checks in at No. 22 in the national polls, earned a share of the Big East Conference regular season championship by going 12-6-0 overall and 7-2-0 in league play. Creighton edged the Friars in the Big East semifinals. Julian Gressel leads Providence with 27 points on 11 goals and five assists. In goal, Colin Miller is 11-1-0 with a 0.49 goals against average.
Thursday's match between Providence and UD will mark the first meeting all-time between the two programs.
The 48-team field is made up of the champions of 24 conferences, who qualified automatically, in addition to 24 teams that were selected at-large. The top 16 teams were all seeded and receive first round byes.
All first-round games will be played Thursday, Nov. 17, while all second-round action will take place Sunday, Nov. 20. The third round will be played Nov. 26 and 27, while the quarterfinals will be played Dec. 2 and 3. The Men’s College Cup will be held Dec. 9 and 11 at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas.
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