Plattsburgh Soccer Teams Both Make NCAA Tournament as At-Larges

November 10, 2009

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (Nov. 9, 2009) - SUNY Plattsburgh will serve as a host site for the first-round of the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship on Thursday evening when the nationally 20th-ranked Cardinals play Bowdoin College at 6 p.m. at the Field House Complex. Tickets will be sold at the gate on the day of the game, starting at 4 p.m. The cost is $6 for general admission; $3 for seniors, students and children ages 3-12; and there's no admission charge for children under-2. Per NCAA regulations, no complimentary passes are available.

The Cardinals (13-2-5 overall, 7-1-1 SUNYAC/1st Place) are making their first NCAA appearance since 2005, when they advanced to the Final Four for the first time, and ninth overall. They officially tied Brockport in double-overtime, 0-0, in Saturday's State University of New York Athletic Conference championship game, but the Golden Eagles won 11-10 in penalty kicks to earn the SUNYAC's automatic bid to the 59-team Big Dance. Plattsburgh has won 499 games in its 60-year program history since 1950. Brockport plays at Ohio Northern in the first round, with the winner of that game having to meet defending national champion Messiah in the next round.

The winner of Thursday's match will advance to play at the University of Rochester in the second round on Sunday (1 p.m.). This will be the first-ever meeting between Bowdoin and SUNY Plattsburgh in men's soccer.

This will be the fourth appearance for the Polar Bears in the national tournament and their first under fifth-year coach Fran O'Leary. Bowdoin (11-4-1) finished fourth in the New England Small Colleges Athletic Conference (NESCAC) regular season standings and advanced to the conference semifinals with a first-round victory over Trinity (Conn.) before being bounced by eventual champion Williams.

For a complete men's bracket, click here: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ncaa/sports/m-soccer/auto_pdf/2009-MSoc-D3Bracket.pdf

For a complete women's bracket, click here: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ncaa/sports/w-soccer/auto_pdf/2009d3WSoc.pdf

On the women's side, Plattsburgh (10-5-3 overall) will square off against the College of New Jersey at 1:30 p.m. Saturday on the campus of Amherst College in Amherst, Mass. Contact Lord Jeffs Athletics at 413-542-2274 for ticket information.

The Cardinals finished the regular season on a strong note by going 2-0-1 against strong non-conference foes, including a 1-1 tie on the road against No. 20 and NCAA tournament-bound Middlebury and a 2-1 victory over No. 19 and NCAA participant Ithaca, to catch the eye of the NCAA Selection Committee. Plattsburgh was nationally ranked during the season, peaking at No. 11 in D3soccer.com and reaching the Top 25 in the NSCAA coaches' polls. Plattsburgh first made the NCAA Tournament during the 1995 campaign.

This marks the first time in school history that both Plattsburgh teams will play in the NCAA tournament in the same season.