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MEN’S SOCCER CHOSEN TO HOST NCAA FIRST & SECOND ROUND MATCHES

11/05/2018, 9:45pm EST
By Reuben Burk

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The nationally-ranked Connecticut College men's soccer team learned today that it will play host to an opening weekend of the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time ever when selections were announced for the 62-team annual event earlier this afternoon.

Off to a historic start, the Camels are making back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in program history and their third overall after previously qualifying in 1995 and 2017. The team will first host Thomas College on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 11:00 a.m. and be joined by Ramapo and Springfield who will face off at 1:30 p.m. The winners will advance to play a second round match on Sunday at 1 p.m. Ticket prices for each match will be $6 for adults and $3 for students.

Connecticut College (12-2-2) has most notably relied on one of the top defenses in the country. The back line led by senior Tyler Hoadley(South Kent, Conn.), junior Freddy Stokes (Westhampton, Mass.), sophomore Liam Donelan (Milton, Mass.) and freshman Luke Stoneback(Commerce, Mich.) has only surrendered four goals, which ranks tied for second nationally, and has registered 12 shutouts to date. Sophomore netminder AJ Marcucci (West Chester, Pa.), who was recognized as the 2017 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, ranks among the top five goalkeepers in the country with a .937 save percentage and an 0.26 goals against average.

On the offensive end, the Camels have been led by seniors Christian Murphy (Newport News, Va.) and Uzii Dieng (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Murphy has 14 points on three goals and a team-leading eight assists, while Dieng has found the back of the net four times and added five helpers.

Connecticut College will be one of 16 sites for the first and second rounds that are taking place this coming weekend. All of the sites will use a single-elimination format. Sixteen second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional championship sites on Nov. 16-18, and the winners of the four sectional sites will advance to the national semifinals on Nov. 30 at the UNC Greensboro Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, N.C. The final will take place a day later on Dec. 1.

Saturday, Nov. 10

Game One: Connecticut College vs. Thomas, 11 a.m.

Game Two: Springfield vs. Ramapo, 1:30 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 11

Game Three: Game One Winner vs. Game Two Winner, 1:00 p.m.

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