Tournament Central
AUSTIN, Texas – Last season, the St. Edward's University men's soccer team hosted its first NCAA Tournament match in program history. This year, the No. 14-ranked Hilltoppers get home-field advantage again as the No. 2 seed in the South Central Region.
SEU (15-4-1) hosts No. 3-seeded Colorado School of Mines (17-3) Saturday at 1 p.m. at Lewis-Chen Family Field in the second round of the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament. Mines comes into Austin ranked No. 8 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll.
The Hilltoppers and Orediggers faced off in the second game of the regular season on The Hilltop as St. Edward's took a convincing 3-0 decision. However, SEU head men's soccer coach Brian Young isn't reading too far into that early result.
"Mines is one of the better teams we've played this year," said Young. "We played them quite early in the season so I think they've improved and we've improved as well. They're well coached with great players and a senior-led team – similar to us. For us, it's about playing the St. Edward's way, applying the game plan, and playing the way we have all year."
Not only did St. Edward's host its first NCAA Tournament game in program history last season, the Hilltoppers also won their first NCAA postseason match with a 1-0 victory over No. 23-ranked Regis. Senior midfielder Julian Sanchez hopes his team can find a similar result this year.
"The biggest thing is, we want to replicate what we did last year when we played in the round of 32 and we played here," said Sanchez. "We need to work hard, focus, and work together because Mines is a good team. It's important to go in strong so we can finish strong."
Mines has gone 17-1 since losing to the Hilltoppers and won 10-straight matches including the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament title. However, the Orediggers have their work cut out for them as St. Edward's is undefeated at home this season with a mark of 8-0-1 at Lewis-Chen Family Field. SEU's unblemished home record is not lost on senior captain Ty Mobley.
"Being able to play at home in the NCAA Tournament is a big deal," said Mobley. "Having a home crowd behind us can definitely help push even further than we think we can go. It's the seniors' last go-around so we're going to give it everything we've got, and we'd definitely like to have a home crowd there to see it."
On the other side of the South Central Regional bracket, top-seeded Midwestern State hosts No. 4-seeded Colorado Mesa and is projected to host the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. However, if St. Edward's and Mesa win Saturday, the Hilltoppers will be in line to host the next two rounds as the top remaining seed in the South Central Region. It will be a tall task for the Mavericks as MSU is undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll.
Win or lose Saturday, St. Edward's has already produced another historic season with at least 15 wins for a fourth-straight year, the fourth-most assists in a single season (36), and a goals-against average under 1.00 (0.75). Individually, Dylan Armstrong has climbed SEU's all-time career lists to fifth in assists (18), and third in game-winning goals (10). Pablo Covarrubias ranks second all-time at SEU with 153-career shots and Steve Aoudou is second in Hilltopper history with 80-career appearances.
Tournament central with links to live stats and video can be found at GoHilltoppers.com. Admission to the match is $10 for adults and $6 for students, children ages 2-18, seniors and military. Children age two and under get in free. SEU Athletics is also covering admission for the first 100 St. Edward's students.
Follow St. Edward's Men's Soccer all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @SEUMSoccer.
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SEU Men's Soccer & The NCAA Tournament
Appearances: 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 1999
Sweet 16's: 2016, 2014
Overall Tournament Record: 1-3-1
Tournament Results:
| Year |
Finish |
| 1999 |
Tie, 1-1 at Fort Lewis |
| 2014 |
Loss, 1-2 vs. Colorado Mesa |
| 2015 |
Loss, 1-2 at Mines |
| 2016 |
Win, 1-0 vs. Regis
Loss, 2-3 vs. Midwestern State |
St. Edward's vs. Colorado School of Mines
All-Time Record: CSM Leads, 8-3-3
Tournament Record: CSM Leads, 1-0-0
