MahxFahn
Gator Fan
ORIGIN....The University of Florida soccer team (15-5-2, 8-1-2 SEC) travels to Columbus, Ohio, for NCAA Championship First Round action. The Gators will face Illinois State in Friday’s opening round at the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The other first round pairing includes Ohio State versus Oregon State. The winners of Friday’s matches will meet Sunday in NCAA Second Round action. Start times are to be announced.
The winner of Sunday's match advances to the NCAA Round of 16, which will take place Nov. 20, 21 or 22. NCAA Quarterfinal action is the following weekend (Nov. 27, 28 or 29). The NCAA College Cup is set for Dec. 4 and 6 at the Aggie Soccer Stadium in College Station, Texas. The complete bracket can be found here.
Friday's meeting will be the first between Florida and Illinois State. The Gators are a No. 3 seed for the 2009 tournament.
Florida advanced to its 13th NCAA Championship by claiming one of the tournament's 34 at-large berths. The Gators reached the Round of 16 in 2008 NCAA action, falling 2-1 to Texas A&M.
Florida is 5-4 against teams in the 2009 tournament field. The Gators registered wins versus Auburn, Duke, Georgia and LSU. Florida split in its two meetings with South Carolina and lost at Mississippi and to No. 2 seeds Florida State and UCLA. For the third consecutive season, the SEC matched its record of six league teams receiving NCAA bids - Florida, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi and South Carolina.
About the opponents:
• Illinois State (12-6-1, 5-1 MVC) claimed the Missouri Valley Conference’s automatic berth by defeating Creighton 1-0 in the MVC tournament final in Omaha, Neb. This is ISU’s second NCAA appearance and first since 2003.
• This is Ohio State’s (14-3-2, 7-2-1 Big 10) fifth NCAA appearance. Ohio State took second in the Big Ten Conference.
• Oregon State (12-7-1, 4-5 Pac 10) is making its second NCAA appearance and first since 1994. Oregon State finished tied for sixth in the 2009 Pac-10 standings
