University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Soccer Earns No. 7 Seed in NCAA Tournament
November 19, 2001 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 19, 2001
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - For the third consecutive year and 10th time in school history, the University of North Carolina men's soccer team has earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Carolina, which is seeded seventh, has a bye in the first round and will face the winner of the game between James Madison (12-5-1) and Towson (15-4-1) in the second round on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Fetzer Field. The Dukes and the Tigers will meet at Fetzer Field on Friday evening at 6 p.m. for the right to advance and play Carolina.
The winner of Sunday's matchup in Chapel Hill will face the winner of the game between Wake Forest and Ohio State or American. The Demon Deacons will host the winner of the Ohio State-American game and would play UNC in Chapel Hill the following weekend should they advance to the third round.
Last weekend, the Tar Heels reached the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and earned one of 28 at-large bids in the 48-team 2001 NCAA Tournament field. This year's bracket is the largest field in the history of the Division I men's soccer tournament, since expansion of the bracket from 32 to 48 teams last summer.
The teams will be playing for the right to compete at the 2001 NCAA Men's College Cup on Dec. 14 and 16 in Columbus, Ohio, at Columbus Crew Stadium.
Last season, Carolina was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in its history, reaching the quarterfinals before losing, 1-0, to two-time defending national champion Indiana at Fetzer Field.
Carolina is one of five ACC teams to earn bids, joining No. 2 seed Virginia, No. 5 seed Clemson, Wake Forest and Maryland
"Getting a seed was our goal," Carolina head coach Elmar Bolowich said shortly after the bracket announcement. "With the way our season ended, we wanted to get the first-round bye and play on our home field. We feel pretty good about that. We don't know much at all about James Madison and Towson, but we have the advantage of seeing both teams play on Friday night. We'll get all the information we can to get prepared and we'll see what happens on Sunday."
olowich now has led Carolina to seven NCAA Tournament appearances - in 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000 and 2001. Sunday's game will mark the second year in a row in which Carolina has hosted an NCAA Tournament game. Previously, UNC hadn't hosted an NCAA Tournament game since 1994.
