Bulls Are In; Host Colgate FridayTAMPA - The University of South Florida men's soccer team earned its 12th-career bid into the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Monday afternoon as the Bulls earned a draw into the 48-team, single-elimination tournament. USF (12-5-2) will host Colgate (9-5-5) in First Round action on Friday, Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the USF Soccer Stadium in Tampa. "We are looking forward to playing Colgate," said Coach George Kiefer. "We feel good about ourselves right now. We've had some good time off, and the guys have had time to take care of themselves and get healthy." Twenty-two conferences received an automatic bid into the 2007 tournament and the remaining 26 teams were selected on an at-large basis. The top 16 teams are seeded in the bracket and the remaining 32 squads are paired according to geographical proximity with each other. "Obviously we are happy to have a home game," said junior forward Jordan Seabrook. "That's a great thing for any program and that says a lot about how far we have come over the past few years." A complete bracket for the 2007 Division I Men's Soccer Championship can be viewed at www.ncaasports.com. USF's last appearance in the NCAA Tournament was when Kiefer led the Bulls to a 1-0-1 record in 2005. That season USF beat Stetson 3-0 at home, but then got eliminated by Virginia on PKs (6-7) after tying the game 4-4. Seven players from the 2005 squad will be playing against the team from the Patriot League Conference this Friday, including Jordan Seabrook, Simon Schoendorf, Kevon Neaves, Joris Claessens, Yohance Marshall, Jason Devenish and Kris Raad. Throughout the 2005 season, those seven guys combined for 63 percent of the teams' total points, 73 percent of the goals and 48 percent of the assists. This season that combination of players account for 64 percent of the total points, and 56 percent of goals and 77 percent of the assists. "The 2005 season was good experience for us," said Seabrook. "It just let us get a taste of what we can do. The guys who were there remember that (elimination) and how bad of a feeling it was, and how we could have taken that game and really made a lot of noise in that tournament." USF is 6-9-2 in the NCAA Tournament, with wins coming in 2005, 2001, 1997 (2), 1973 and 1969. The Bulls' best finish in the tournament was the 1997 season when head coach David Christiansen led the team into the Third Round. For the third straight year, the BIG EAST Conference has placed seven teams in the field of 48 teams in the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. Since the 2001 season, the BIG EAST has averaged six teams per year in the NCAA Championship. The BIG EAST put more teams in this year's field than any other conference.
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