Nov. 13, 2017
2017 NCAA MSOC Championship 
| Interactive Bracket | Tickets
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s soccer team has earned a bid into the NCAA Championship for the 20th time in program history. The Irish were rewarded with their sixth straight top-16 national seed when the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship draw was unveiled on Monday.
The Irish drew the No. 12 seed into the 2017 NCAA tournament, and will host the winner of Wisconsin and UIC on Sunday at 6 p.m. (ET) inside Alumni Stadium. The first-round matchup between UIC and Wisconsin is set to take place on Thursday at the McClimon Memorial Track & Soccer Complex in Madison, Wisconsin.
For ticket information for Sunday’s NCAA tournament match at Alumni Stadium, call the Murnane Family Ticket Office at (574) 631-7356, visit UND.com/buytickets, or stop by the ticket office window inside Purcell Pavilion.
Notre Dame (11-6-2) is set to make its 16th NCAA Championship appearance in the past 17 seasons under head coach Bobby Clark and its 12th as one of the event’s 16 national seeds. The Irish were seeded 13th in 2016, seventh in 2015, were the top overall seed in both 2012 and 2014, and won the 2013 NCAA Championship as the third seed in their last five tournament berths.
The Irish are 18-17-2 (.514) all-time in NCAA Championship play, which includes a 17-13-2 record under Clark. Notre Dame has advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 on nine occasions, the national quarterfinals three times (2006-07, 2013), and claimed the national championship during the program’s inaugural NCAA College Cup appearance in 2013.
Notre Dame previously faced nine other qualifiers during the regular season, and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship matches, entering 2017 NCAA tournament play. The Irish are a combined 4-5-2 (.455) against fellow NCAA Championship competitors this season, including a 2-0-2 mark in matches played at Alumni Stadium.
The ACC tied its own NCAA men’s soccer record by seeing nine affiliate teams earn berths into the 2017 NCAA Championship field. Along with Notre Dame, No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 4 Louisville, No. 6 Duke, No. 8 Clemson, No. 11 Virginia, Virginia Tech and NC State are set to represent the conference on the road toward the NCAA College Cup in Philadelphia.
A total of 16 of the last 20 winners of the NCAA College Cup, dating back to the 1997 season, are included in the field of 48 vying for the 2017 NCAA Championship. Notre Dame (2013), Indiana (1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2012), North Carolina (2001, 2011), Wake Forest (2007), Virginia (2009, 2014) and Stanford (2015, 2016) are all seeded in this year’s tournament, with recent champions Maryland (2005, 2008) and Akron (2010) also in the 2017 field.
Wisconsin earned a home match during the first round of the NCAA Championship on the strength of a 10-4-5 record, most recently drawing 0-0 with No. 2 seed Indiana and claiming the Big Ten tournament championship 4-2 in penalty kicks on Nov. 12. The Badgers defeated No. 4 seed Maryland 2-1 (Nov. 5) and No. 1 seed Michigan 4-0 (Nov. 10) on their way to the tournament crown.
UIC (11-5-3) secured the automatic NCAA bid from the Horizon League for the second straight season after defeating top-seeded Green Bay 2-0 on Nov. 11 in the conference tournament final. The Flames had previously downed Cleveland State 3-1 during the semifinal round on their way to claiming the fifth conference tournament championship victory in program history.
Following Thursday’s first round and Sunday’s second round games, the NCAA Championship continues with third round matchups on Nov. 25 or 26 at campus sites. The national quarterfinals will follow on Dec. 1-2 at campus venues. The 2017 NCAA College Cup will be contested on Dec. 8 (national semifinals) and Dec. 10 (national final) at Talen Energy Stadium in Philadelphia, live on ESPN2.