NCAA TOURNAMENT
Boxers Left Without Bid
Boxers Left Without Bid
Men's Soccer Left Without NCAA Tournament Bid
Despite 14 wins and one of the best seasons in program history, the Boxers are passed up for one of 17 at-large invitations to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship
FOREST GROVE – One of the best seasons in the history of the Pacific University men’s soccer program will end without a playoff run.
As expected, the Boxers were left out of the field of 59 teams invited to participate in the 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship. The list of invitees was released by the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Committee on Sunday night.
Pacific was hoping that their statistics would convince the committee to include Pacific as one of 17 “Pool C” at-large invitees to the tournament. The Boxers finished the year with a 14-3-2 record, their most victories since 1998 when the Boxers advanced to their first and only NCAA Division III tournament, and scored 42 goals while allowing just 10.
The Boxers’ chances were hurt on Oct. 31 when they dropped a 2-1 decision to Pacific Lutheran. The loss dropped Pacific out of a first place with Whitworth and below the Lutes to third place in the Northwest Conference. The Boxers finished in that third place spot.
Whitworth earned the NWC’s automatic qualifying berth by virtue of winning the league’s regular season championship. Pacific Lutheran was also left without a dance card, passed up despite finishing just two points behind the Pirates with a 14-5-0 overall record and 11-3-0 conference mark and a No. 5 ranking in the final west regional poll, also released on Sunday.
West Region teams which earned qualification to the championships include automatic qualifiers Whitworth, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (SCIAC), Hardin-Simmons (American Southwest) and Trinity (Texas) (Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference); and “Pool B” independent qualifiers Chapman and UC Santa Cruz. The West Region was granted no “Pool C” at-large qualifiers.
Despite the disappointment of how the season ends, the Boxers can look forward to a 2010 season that returns much of the personnel responsible for the successes of 2009. Pacific is expected all but two starters from this year’s team, including record-setting goalkeeper Andrew Stevermer (Jr., Gillete, Wyo.), leading scorers Jasem Jaihouni (Jr., Portland, Ore.), Sean Mills (Jr., Seattle, Wash.), Travis Birrell (Jr., Seattle, Wash.), Mike Iacolucci (Jr., Seattle, Wash.) and Kizamu Tsutakawa (Jr., Seattle, Wash.) and defenders Avery Neal (Jr., Los Alamos, N.M.), Taylor Kane (So., Portland, Ore.) and Patrick Murray (So., Hillsboro, Ore.).
Posted by Blake Timm (timmbr@pacificu.edu) on Nov 9, 2009 at 2:01 AM
