MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – St. Thomas will play at Rio Grande (Ohio) on Saturday, November 19 in the Opening Round of the NAIA National Championships.  Game time is 12 p.m.  

A Watch Party for The Opening Round will take place in the lobby of the Fernandez Family Center on Saturday with free food to all in attendance.  For those unable to attend the watch party, the Opening Round game will be broadcast live via webcast at www.portal.stretchinternet.com/rio/ (pay-per-view). 

The Bobcats enter the NAIA Opening coming off a Sun Conference Championship as STU defeated Keiser 1-0 in the conference tournament finals.  It marks the second time that St. Thomas has won The Sun Conference tournament championship and advanced to the NAIA National Championships Opening Round with the first time coming in 2010.

Under the guidance of Coach Felix Mats, the Bobcats enter the NAIA Opening Round with a 9-6-2 overall record.  STU went 6-2-1 in regular season conference play, before reeling off wins over Florida Memorial and Keiser to win the conference tournament as the number two seed.

The Bobcats head into the NAIA National Championships on a hot streak, going 7-1-1 over their last nine matches.  Over the last nine matches, STU posted five shutouts and outscored opponents 21-7.

Offensively this season, St. Thomas has been led by Pablo Gill and Artur Sharapov who each have registered eight goals and three assists respectively.  Kris Wilkinson is the team's leading assist man with five assists to go along with five goals.  Federico Moronell has scored six goals with two assists.

Roni Luokkamaki has scored two goals this year, including the game-winner in The Sun Conference Championship finals vs. Keiser.  Harry Molyneux also has two goals on the year.

Connor Christie has recorded four shutouts this season, including shutouts in back-to-back games in The Sun Conference Championships.

With a win in the Opening Round at RIo Grande, St. Thomas will advance to the Round of 16 to be held Nov. 28-29 at the Seacrest Soccer Complex in Delray Beach, Fla.  The Seacrest Soccer Complex will host the final rounds of the tournament through the championship final on Dec. 3.