Monday, November 18, 2002

Men's Soccer to host UCF in First Round of NCAA Tournament

lorida International will host UCF in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship on Friday, Nov. 22, at 7:00 p.m., at University Park.

Both teams qualified for postseason play after winning their respective league titles. FIU (12-5-1) dominated the Atlantic Soccer Conference with a 4-0-1 record in conference games and closed out the season by winning 12 of its last 14 matches. UCF (10-7-3) earned its berth after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament with a 1-0 victory over Stetson on Sunday.

FIU holds a 19-6-3 advantage all-time over UCF. The squads last squared off on Nov. 10 of this year, as the Golden Panthers defeated the Golden Knights, 3-2, in Orlando. In that game, FIU jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Matias Asorey, Billy Boswell and Paul Kolovos before UCF mounted a second half comeback by scoring a pair of goals in the first seven minutes of the second half.

This is the Golden Panthers 14th NCAA Tournament invite with six of those coming since the program moved to Division I in 1987. FIU is 18-11 overall in postseason play, 4-5 in Division I.

UCF is venturing into postseason play for the first time in the program's history.

The winner of Friday's game will travel to Dallas to face SMU on Wed., Nov. 27.

The contest will be broadcast on Radiate 88, FIU's student radio station. It can be heard on 88.1 FM in Miami or on the Internet at http://wrgp.fiu.edu/sports.

For information on purchasing tickets for Friday's game, please call the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or 866-FIU-GAME.