LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola's men's soccer team will hit the road to open the 2009 NAIA Men's Soccer Tournament, traveling to Texas to face the University of Texas-Brownsville on Saturday, Nov. 21, as the tournament bracket was announced today by the NAIA.
Hosted by 15 different schools, the National Championship Opening Round takes place on Nov. 21. The winners of the National Championship Opening Round games, as well as host school Fresno Pacific (Calif.), will advance to the National Championship final site from Nov. 30 - Dec. 5 in Fresno, Calif.
The Eagles, who finished the season with a 13-4-2 overall record and were ranked No. 12 in the final NAIA National Poll, earned the sixth and final at-large berth in the field. They will be making just their third trip to the NAIA National Tournament--their first since the 1987 season. Biola is still looking for its first win in the tournament, posting an 0-2-2 overall record in those two appearances.
Texas-Brownsville is the sixth overall seed in the tournament field and was ranked No. 14 in the final NAIA rankings. The Scorpions earned an automatic berth as the champions of the Red River Athletic Conference and finished the 2009 season without a loss, posting a 17-0-1 overall record and going 9-0-0 in conference.
UTB is making its second-straight trip to the NAIA tournament, losing 3-0 to Mobile (Ala.) in the first round last season. The winner of the Biola/UTB match will face the winner of the match between Science and Arts (Okla.) (17-1-1) and Hastings (Neb.) (15-4-2) in a second round match on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 4:30 p.m. in Fresno.
In other opening round matches, No. 1 seed Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) will host Lee (Tenn.). The Blue Raiders own the most Championships among active teams with seven and is appearing in their 16th straight event. Defending national champion No. 12 Bethel (Tenn.) welcomes Kansas Wesleyan to McKenzie, Tenn. The Wildcats recently had a 31-match unbeaten streak, which was snapped in the TranSouth Athletic Conference Tournament Championship on Friday.
Simon Fraser (B.C.) is making its 22nd appearance, the most of any active school and holds the most wins (37). There are eight schools that have qualified for the first time in school history. Four other schools are searching for their first National Championship victory.
This year's 31 teams include 24 automatic qualifiers (conferences/independent/unaffiliated champions), six at-large bids and the host school, Fresno Pacific. The seeds are based on each team's Longo rating. There has been a different national champion in each of the last seven events.
The compete opening round schedule along with a full PDF version of the bracket can be found at http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/111509aad.html. For more information on the 2009 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championships, visit the NAIA soccer championships website at http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/2009championship.html.
