Francis Marion soccer team earns NCAA invite

The Francis Marion University men's soccer team learned Monday night (Nov. 10) that it earned an invitation to the NCAA Division II national tournament.  The Patriots will participate in the Southeast Regional, and will play a first-round match at Carson-Newman College on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. on the Eagles' McCown Field in Jefferson City, Tenn.

The 32-team tournament field includes four Super Regions.  The six-team Southeast Regional is part of Super Region 2.  In addition to the FMU and Carson-Newman match on Wednesday, Limestone College will host Lander University at 1 p.m. in another first-round contest. 

The two winners will advance to Greeneville, Tenn., and the campus of Tusculum College for Friday's semifinal matches.  The Limestone/Lander winner will play Lees-McRae College in the first semifinal at 4 p.m., while the FMU/Carson-Newman winner will meet Tusculum at 7 p.m.  The region title match will be played on Sunday at 2 p.m.

This is Francis Marion's second-ever invitation to the NCAA Tournament.  The Patriots participated in the 2000 tournament where they hosted a pair of matches and advanced to the national quarterfinals.

Francis Marion owns a 13-4-3 record and has not lost in its last 14 matches - 12 wins and two ties.  The Patriots captured both the Peach Belt Conference regular-season and tournament championships after being picked to finish fifth in the pre-season conference coaches' poll.

Carson-Newman has an 11-4-2 record and was recently upset by Lenoir-Rhyne College in the first round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament.

However, a 5-0 loss to the Eagles in Jefferson City on Sept. 13 was part of a 1-4-1 start for Francis Marion this year.  After those opening six matches, the young Patriot squad has not lost while allowing only eight goals in 14 contests.

Overall, Carson-Newman leads the all-time series 3-2 with wins in the last three meetings (2008, 2007, 2003).  FMU won the opening two meetings in 2000 and 2002.

The Division II national quarterfinals are set for Nov. 22 and 23 at on-campus sites, with the University of Tampa hosting the Final Four, Dec. 4 and 6.

Francis Marion head coach Kevin Varnado, a native of Tampa, is in only his second year as the Patriots' head coach.  His only senior is defender Willie Hunt, who was named the most valuable player of this past weekend's PBC Tournament.

Sophomore forward Juan Rivas leads FMU in scoring with nine goals and five assists, while sophomore goalkeeper Clark Richeson owns a 1.25 goals against average, six complete-match shutouts, and a .752 save percentage.

Franklin Pierce University won the 2007 title by defeating Lincoln Memorial University 1-0.

    
Southeast Regional

Wednesday, November 12

Francis Marion (13-4-3) at Carson-Newman (11-4-2)            7 pm

Lander (12-4-2) at Limestone (15-2-2)           1 pm

Friday, November 14 at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tenn.

Game No. 1 - Lees-McRae (15-2-3) vs. Limestone/Lander Winner              4 pm

Game No. 2 - Tusculum (18-2-1) vs. Carson-Newman/Francis Marion Winner        7 pm

Sunday, November 16

Winner of Game No. 1 vs. Winner of Game No. 2    2 pm