Nov. 16, 2009
2009 College Cup Bracket (PDF) |
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern earned the No. 9 national seed and a first-round bye when the field of 48 teams for the 2009 NCAA Men's College Cup was announced Monday afternoon. The Wildcats open tournament play Sunday against the winner of Thursday's match between host Notre Dame (10-7-4) and Green Bay (14-2-3).
Sunday's contest is set to kick off at 1 p.m. at Lakeside Field.
"I had hoped for probably one notch higher just because of the fact that you'd get two home games if you're fortunate to get through your first match," Northwestern head coach Tim Lenahan said. "There's a lot of teams out there that we're very familiar with."
"It's been a great year for us, especially when you consider the start that we got off to. I'm really happy with the way this group has responded. We lost six seniors from last year's team and I couldn't be more proud of this year's team."
The No. 9 seed equals NU's highest in program history, matching the 2007 squad. In addition, the tournament berth makes this year's senior class the first in program history to compete in the NCAA tournament all four years.
Northwestern (10-4-4) is familiar with both potential opponents as it faced Notre Dame in an exhibition game prior to playing to a 3-3 tie at Green Bay in the season opener Sept. 1. The Wildcats have a recent postseason history with the Fighting Irish as they defeated 12th-seeded Notre Dame 2-1 in a second-round matchup in South Bend last season.
The winner of Sunday's match advances to take on the winner of the match between eight-seeded Tulsa and either Missouri State or Saint Louis. The Wildcats defeated Tulsa 3-2 in overtime earlier this season in a neutral-site match in DeKalb, Ill.
Tickets for Sunday's matchup cost $8 for adults and $5 for students. As a special thank you for their support all season, the first 100 Northwestern undergraduate students can receive a voucher for admission to the contest at the Lakeside Field entrance beginning at 11:30 a.m. Sunday courtesy of Coach Lenahan and the Wildcats.