Clarksville, Ark.-The University of the Ozarks men's soccer team will advance to the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament for the second straight season under head coach Aaron Brueckner.
The Eagles (8-6-2, 4-5-2 ASC) secured the No. 5 seed in the tournament and will face Concordia University Texas (8-4-2, 5-4-2 ASC) for the third consecutive year in the tournament. The Eagles will take on the Tornadoes November 2 at 5:00 p.m. at host institution Mary Hardin-Baylor.
"The team has worked extremely hard and deserve to be in this position," said head coach Aaron Brueckner. "The guys know how important it is to not only themselves, but also for the program as a whole. Now, the biggest goal and challenge is to get a playoff win."
Ozarks and the Tornados played September 23 with the Eagles taking a 1-0 win. The semi-finals are scheduled for November 4, with the championship match on November 5. Mary Hardin-Baylor won the regular season title and will host in the entire tournament.
Ozarks is making its fifth straight appearance, while Concordia is reaching the tournament for the third consecutive season.
"We have a good mixture of veterans and younger guys," he said. "In the attack, we have done a better job of creating scoring opportunities as the season has gone on. Defensively, we have done a great job of defending during the run of play."
The Eagles have five players with three goals. Eight players have five or more points to form a balanced attack. The Eagles have posted six shutouts. It is the 15th time Ozarks has qualified for the post-season.
Alejandro Labastida leads Concordia with six goals and 47 shots. The Tornadoes have three shutouts on the season.
"Concordia has been a great team the last few years," he said. "They are a very strong team and a very good attacking team. They are a handful to deal with defensively. It was a close game earlier in the season against them and I expect the same type of game Thursday."
The winner of the ASC Championship Tournament is declared the conference champion and earns automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship.
2017 American Southwest Conference Men's Soccer Championship Tournament @ Belton, Texas
Thursday, November 2 / Quarterfinals
Game 1 – #4 Concordia Texas vs. #5 Ozarks, 5:00 p.m.
Game 2 – #3 UT Dallas vs. #6 Hardin-Simmons, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 4 / Semifinals
Game 3 – #1 Mary Hardin-Baylor vs. Winner Game 1, 11:00 a.m.
Game 4 – #2 UT Tyler vs. Winner Game 2, 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 5 / Championship
Game 5 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 1:00 p.m.
Championship Tournament Page: http://cruathletics.com/sports/2017/10/26/2017-asc-mens-soccer-championship-tournament.aspx
