November 12th, 2008
Bobcat Soccer meets Aggies for third time in NCAA Tournament

The Texas State Bobcats will open NCAA Championship Tournament action Friday night at 7 p.m. when the team faces off with the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station, Texas. This will mark the fourth tournament appearance in the program’s ten-year history. TAMU will host the four-team bracket with LSU and Washington meeting a 5 p.m. Thursday night in the first contest. The winners of the two first-round games will square off Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.The winner of the College Station regional will advance to 16-team third round action on November 21-23 and eight will move on to quarterfinal action November 28-30. The final four teams will advance to the NCAA College Cup is set for December 5 and 7 in Cary, North Carolina.

The Bobcats earned the postseason bid after claiming the Southland Conference regular season crown and SLC Tournament title. As the No. 1 seed, the Bobcats received a first round bye and battled Southeastern Louisiana to a 1-0 winning decision. In the title match, the ‘Cats faced No. 2 McNeese State and charged through with a 2-1 win for the prize. Texas State is currently riding a 13-game winning streak, posting its first-ever undefeated league season with a 7-0-2 record. Overall, Texas State has a 13-3-4 mark, just one win shy of tying the all-time record for most wins in a season set by the 2001 class.

Texas A&M will be making its 14th-straight appearance in the NCAA tournament Friday. The No. 8 team dropped a 4-2 decision to Kansas in the Big 12 quarterfinal match in its last outing and gives the Aggies a 15-4-1 mark entering Friday night’s action. LSU and Washington will complete the field, with both teams having receiving at-large bids. The No. 20 Tigers will be making their second-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament after posting a 14-3-2 overall mark. LSU finished first in the SEC with a 7-3-1 record, but fell to Tennessee in the semifinal round of the postseason league tournament. Washington will complete the regional field and enters the competition with a 14-5-1 record. UW finished third in the Pac-10 conference and has won its past six contests.

This will mark the third meeting for Texas State and Texas A&M. In the Bobcats past two NCAA appearances, the team has faced the Aggies, in 2001 and 2004. A&M has held Texas State scoreless in both meetings, taking a 3-0 win in 2001 before stunning the ‘Cats 10-0 in 2004.

The ‘Cats have yet to face LSU or Washington.

Live stats and video streaming will be available through the host school’s site at the link below.

http://www.aggieathletics.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/tam-w-soccer-ncaa-08.html

Tickets are available through AggieAthletics.com or by calling 1.888.845.2311.

All-session tickets are available to the public on AggieAthletics.com. Single-day tickets will be available Friday and gates will be open one hour prior to kickoff. Additional ticket information can be found by contacting 1.888.845.2311.

Amber Arterberry
Bobcat Athletics