Staff Report
One year after being snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee with a No. 13 seed despite its No. 1 ranking in Soccer Times, the UNM men's soccer team got an early Christmas present Monday.
The selection committee picked the Lobos as the No. 2 seed in the tournament, guaranteeing the team three home games before the Final Four if it keeps winning.
UNM holds the second best record in the country, at 15-1-2, and clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with a 1-0 overtime win against Air Force on Sunday to take first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
The University of Maryland received the No. 1 seed with a 15-4-1 record.
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The Lobos received a first-round bye with the No. 2 seed and will play the winner of Bradley (15-5-1) versus the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (13-4-4) at 7 p.m. on Nov. 22 at the UNM Soccer Complex.
The Lobos are ranked in the top five of all four national polls, including a No. 1 ranking by CollegeSoccerNews.com.
The other seeded teams on UNM's side of the bracket include No. 7 University of California-Berkeley (13-3-2), No. 10-seeded Old Dominion University (15-3-2) and the No. 15-seeded California State-Northridge (14-3-3).
The Lobos beat six teams in the 48-team tournament: West Virginia 2-0, Southern Methodist University 2-0, James Madison 1-0, South Florida 3-2, Ohio State University 1-0 in overtime and No. 11-seeded Penn State University 2-0.
This is the Lobos' fourth NCAA tournament appearance in five years.
As the No. 13 seed last year, the Lobos lost to the No. 4-seeded Virginia Cavaliers on penalty kicks in the third round of the tournament after beating the University of Portland 4-1 in the second round.
Tickets sales start today at The Pit ticket office. They can also be purchased on the day of the game at the UNM Soccer Complex box office. They are $3 for students and $5 for adults.
