Nov. 20, 2007
The Colgate Raiders will travel south for the Thanksgiving holiday, as they open up NCAA Tournament with a trip to Tampa, Fla. to take on the South Florida Bulls. The Raiders are making their first trip to the postseason in a decade, and are looking to win their first NCAA Tournament game.
The Raiders were crowned Patriot League Tournament champions on Sunday afternoon after defeating No. 4 seed Lafayette 1-0 in the title game. Colgate senior defender Dan Belke, who was the 2007 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, was also named the Tournament MVP.
Patriot League Men's Soccer Release - 11.20.07 
Colgate Set to Open NCAA Tournament Play
The Colgate Raiders (9-5-5, 4-1-2) will begin their NCAA Tournament play with a trip to Tampa, Fla. to take on the South Florida Bulls (12-5-2, 6-4-1) on Friday evening. The Raiders advanced to the 2007 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament as the automatic qualifier from the Patriot League. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m. from the USF Soccer/Track Stadium.
This will be Colgate's first trip to soccer's version of the "Big Dance" since 1997, when they lost 2-0 to Bowling Green in a play-in game. South Florida, conversely, will be making their 12th appearance in the tournament.
Colgate qualified for the NCAA Tournament after winning the 2007 Patriot League Men's Soccer Championship this past weekend. Senior defender Dan Belke was named the Tournament MVP after leading a defensive unit that surrendered just one goal in two games. Colgate, the No. 2 seed, started off the tournament by going to penalty kicks with No. 3 seed Bucknell after playing to a tie in regulation. The Raiders defeated the Bison 3-2 in penalty kicks to advance to the championship against No. 4 seed Lafayette. In the final, Colgate junior forward Glenn Volk scored the game's only goal to secure a 1-0 victory for the Raiders. Senior forward Eric Anton, Belke, junior goalkeeper David Cappuccio and Volk were each named to the All-Tournament Team.
South Florida is led by Simon Schoendorf, who has posted totals of seven goals, 12 assists and 26 points this season. Goalkeeper Diego Restrepo has tallied seven shutouts this season, and has a GAA of 0.83. They lost in the Big East Tournament Quarterfinals to Connecticut and advanced to the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team.
This will be the first meeting between Colgate and South Florida. The Raiders will not be the first Patriot League team to face the Bulls this season, however, as American traveled down to Tampa earlier this season. The Eagles suffered a 6-1 defeat to the Bulls, who were ranked No. 16 in the nation at the time. The Patriot League is a combined 2-4-0 against Big East teams during the 2007 season.
Patriot League Notebook
Patriot League Men's Soccer CoSIDA Selections
The Patriot League had 14 men's soccer student-athletes named to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Teams. First-team honorees included Army junior A.J. Glubzinski, Army senior Daniel Newell, Bucknell senior Justin Wolf, Colgate junior Daniel Kerley, Lafayette senior Luke Sullivan, Lafayette senior Mike Tilley and Navy senior Evan Barnes. Second-team selections included Army senior John Kubeika, Colgate senior Dan Belke, Holy Cross junior Andreas Andrews, Holy Cross junior Felipe Castrillon, Lafayette senior Scott Hawkins, Lehigh senior Joe Clemente and Lehigh senior Michael Hessemer.
Patriot League In the NCAA Tournament
The Patriot League has had a level of success in past NCAA Tournament appearances, racking up a total of six wins and one tie. American leads the way with four of the six victories. Colgate will be looking for their first postseason win in Friday night's game.
Quotable
"We're excited that we won the Patriot League Championship, our first in 10 years. We're all ready to go to Florida and see what lies ahead on the national level. We're a great team and we're ready to make an impact. We look forward to seeing where we stand on the national scene. We're playing great together and peaking at the right time."
Colgate junior Matt Leach following Monday's NCAA Men's Soccer Selection Show
"We're all doing this for the first time and we're doing it together. It was a great weekend, and we're coming together and clicking at the right time."
Colgate sophomore Chris Koontz shares his thoughts heading into the postseason.
