Demon Deacons Dancing, Will Travel to South Carolina Thursday
11/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 14, 2011
Official NCAA Release | 2011 NCAA Tournament Bracket (.pdf)
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's soccer team is back in the NCAA Tournament after just a one year hiatus, the NCAA Selection Committee announced on Monday, Nov. 14, and will travel to face South Carolina on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7:00 p.m.
An unseeded, at-large admission into the tournament, Wake Forest will enter the field of 48 for the 15th time in school history playing some of its best soccer of the season. The Demon Deacons earned draws with two consecutive top-10 opponents in Akron and Maryland, and closed the regular season on a 6-2-3 run. Overall, the Deacs hold an 8-7-4 overall record after going 4-3-1 and tying for third-place in the perennially tough ACC.
Despite a strong schedule and resume, Wake will not have the luxury of any home matches for the duration of its participation and faces future matches with 15th-seeded James Madison and third-seeded UConn - provided the Deacs are able to get through the Gamecocks in the first round.
The pairing could have been a rematch, but instead will be the Demon Deacons' second trip to Columbia, S.C. this season after a regular season meeting between the two schools was called off due to lightning on September 21.
It will be the Demon Deacons' 10th trip to the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament in the past 11 seasons, where head coach Jay Vidovich's side had a dominant run from 2006-2009 - including a 2007 NCAA Championship and four consecutive College Cup appearances. That run was snapped last season when the Deacs were left out of the field for the first time in a decade, despite a third-place regular season finish in the ACC.
22 teams enter the tournament after securing automatic bids through conference championships, while another 26 were chosen as at-large participants. For the second consecutive year, the Big East leads all conferences with seven teams in the tournament. The ACC has six teams in the field, while the Colonial Athletic Association and Conference USA each placed four. The Atlantic 10, Big South, Big Ten, Big West, Ivy, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Mountain Pacific and Southern conferences all have two teams in the tournament.
The winner of Thursday's match will advance into the second round for a meeting with 15th-seeded James Madison University (12-4-2), out of the Colonial Athletic Association, on Sunday, Nov. 21 at 1 p.m.