Nov. 15, 2004
NCAA Bracket in PDF Format
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The University of Notre Dame men’s soccer team (13-2-3) was selected as the fifth seed in the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship 48-team field on Monday afternoon, providing the Irish with their highest-ever seed in the postseason tournament. Head coach Bobby Clark’s team, the BIG EAST Conference regular-season champions, will put their 10-match unbeaten streak on the line against the winner of Ohio State – Memphis in the second round at Alumni Field on Tuesday, Nov. 23.
“There are no easy games once you get to the NCAA tournament,” head coach Bobby Clark said after the pairings were announced.
“Both Memphis and Ohio State are very solid teams, but now we get an idea of who to prepare for. It is exciting to see that we will be facing teams we have not played in the regular season. That provides us with some great new challenges.”
Notre Dame will be making its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championship under Clark and eighth appearance overall. The Irish will also play host to NCAA tournament action for the third consecutive year, with the Irish defeating Akron 3-1 in the first round of 2002 and Wisconsin-Milwaukee 4-1 in the second round last season.
The fifth-seed will assure Notre Dame of home field advantage in the second round and Sweet 16 – should the Irish advance.
Notre Dame was the fifth overall seed in the tournament, behind Wake Forest, Indiana, Maryland and Virginia. Seeds six through 16 (all who received firth round byes) ended up as UCLA, SMU, UNC Greensboro, UC Santa Barbara, Penn State, St. John’s, Old Dominion, New Mexico, Creighton, Boston College and Virginia Commonwealth.
The BIG EAST Conference is represented by five teams in the NCAA field – Notre Dame, St. John’s, Boston College, Seton Hall and Connecticut. In all, Notre Dame faced eight teams that earned a berth in the NCAA Championship this season, going 5-1-2 against those teams.
2004 NCAA Division I Soccer Championship
Second Round
Winner of Ohio State/Memphis vs. Notre Dame
Tuesday, Nov. 23, 7:00 p.m. (tentative), Alumni Field