BRACKET
VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT
 
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – St. Thomas will host Truett McConnell (Ga.) in the Opening Round of the 2017 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championships at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18 at Bobcat Field.

The St. Thomas-Truett McConnell winner will advance to the Round of 16 to be played on Tuesday, Nov. 28 in Delray Beach, Fla. against the winner of the Mobile (Ala.) vs. Houston-Victoria (Texas) Opening Round game.

11th seeded St. Thomas (13-1-1) earned an automatic bid for the NAIA Opening Round by winning The Sun Conference Tournament Championship.  Truett McConnell (16-3-1) was also an automatic qualifier after winning the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Championship.

It marks the second consecutive appearance in the NAIA National Championships Opening Round for St. Thomas which lost last year at no. 2 seed Rio Grande (Ohio).  All-time, it will mark the third appearance for the Bobcats who will be looking for the school's first-ever win in an Opening Round match.

The St. Thomas Men's Soccer team won both the regular season Sun Conference championship and the Sun Conference Tournament championship with a perfect record against league opponents.  The Bobcats, ranked 13th nationally, were incredibly dominant in conference play, winning every conference game and outscoring league opponents 39-3 with eight shutouts.  Head Coach Felix Mats was named Sun Conference Coach of the Year as the Bobcats swept the major Sun Conference awards by also winning Player of the Year (Federico Moronell), Offensive Player of the Year (Moronell) and Defensive Player of the Year (Connor Christie).  In total, the Bobcats had 10 players named to All-Conference teams and 12 student-athletes named to the Academic All-Conference team.

The 31-team NAIA National Championships will get underway with 15 National Championship Opening Round matches at campus locations on November 18. Keiser (Fla.) is the 31st team in the field, but receives an NAIA Opening Round bye due to earning the host berth of the national championship final site in Delray Beach, Fla.

The 15 NAIA Opening Round winners will join Keiser in Delray Beach, Fla. for national championship final site action. The 16-team single-elimination event runs from November 27 – December 2 at the Seacrest Soccer Complex.

This year's opening round field includes 24 automatic qualifiers, six at-large selections and one host berth. Automatic berths were given to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title, regular-season championship or finished runner-up during the regular season or at the conference tournament. The at-large bids were determined by the Soccer National Selection Committee.

Opening Round Schedule
Saturday, Nov. 18
Match 1 – Waldorf (Iowa) (9-7-4) at No. 1 Oklahoma Wesleyan (19-1-1)
Match 2 – UC Merced (13-2-4) at No. 9 Vanguard (Calif.) (15-3-0)
Match 3 – Southern Oregon (14-6-1) at No. 8 Georgia Gwinnett (11-3-2)
Match 4 – Grace (Ind.) (12-4-4) at No. 5 Baker (Kan.) (15-4-2)
Match 5 – Northwestern Ohio (14-5-1) at No. 12 Columbia (Mo.) (17-2-2)
Match 6 – Wayland Baptist (Texas) (14-5-1) at No. 13 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (12-4-3)
Match 7 – Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) (15-3-2) at No. 4 Rio Grande (Ohio) (14-1-2)
Match 8 – WVU Tech (8-9-4) at No. 2 William Carey (Miss.) (17-1-0)
Match 9 – Corban (Ore.) (15-2-4) at No. 15 Hastings (Neb.) (18-3-0)
Match 10 – Westmont (Calif.) (10-4-3) at No. 10 Marymount (Calif.) (15-3-2)
Match 11 – William Woods (Mo.) (13-3-3) at No. 7 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (13-3-0)
Match 12 – Houston-Victoria (Texas) (11-2-2) at No. 6 Mobile (Ala.) (13-3-2)
Match 13 – Truett-McConnell (Ga.) (16-3-1) at No. 11 St. Thomas (Fla.) (13-1-1)
Match 14 – Madonna (Mich.) (15-3-1) at No. 14 Cumberland (Tenn.) (15-2-2)
Match 15 – Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) (11-8-1) at No. 3 Missouri Valley (15-2-3)

For more information on the 2017 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship Opening Round and final site, click here.

Live video coverage of the St. Thomas vs. Truett McConnell Opening Round match will be provided at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/stu/