Men's Soccer 12/1/2019 10:45:00 AM CU Athletics

Tigers to begin NCCAA Championship chase with pool play opener

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Tigers seek to begin their championship quest as pool play of the NCCAA National Tournament commences Monday afternoon.

CU will begin pool play at 3:30 p.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 2, as its No. 2 seed matches them with the No. 8 seed Bethesda College at the Austin-Tindall Sports Complex.

PATH TO A CHAMPIONSHIP

Four games separate the Tigers from pool play for the NCCAA National Championship.
With the overall second seed in the tournament, the Tigers were placed in pool B with Bethesda College and Judson University.
The Pool Play winners are determined by record, points, goals scored, goals against and goal differential.
If the Tigers advance out of Pool Play, the National Office will re-seed teams for the semifinal rounds – which is scheduled for Friday afternoon, Dec. 6. The championship is scheduled for Saturday night at 5:00.

SCOUTING BETHESDA UNIVERSITY

The Flames enter the tournament with the eighth seed after posting a 7-7 overall record for the 2019 season.
Bethesda has won each of their last three matches after 5-1, 5-0, and 2-1 wins throughout the month of October.
Of their seven losses, the Flames were shutout five times, while only scoring 29 goals all season, averaging just over two goals per contest.
This holds well for the Owen Stott and the Tiger defense as CU was able to blank their opponents 10 times this season, only allowing 14 goals this year.

LAST TIME OUT

Campbellsville enters Monday's match with a 12-6-1 record, coming off a double overtime, loss to Keiser in the Opening Round of the NAIA Championship.
In the game, the Tigers and the Seahawks traded goals following a 41^st minute goal from Keiser.
A 59^th and 70^th minute equalizers from Tom Edge and Gustavo Izzo helped the Tigers force overtime in the Opening Round matchup.
However, it was a 103^rd minute goal from Giorgio Resnati that led the Keiser to taking down CU in an effort to move to the Opening Round Championship.

HISTORY IN THE NCCAA TOURNAMENT

Campbellsville's highest finish in the NCCAA Tournament came in 2017 when they reached the semifinal before falling to Southwestern Christian, 2-1.
In that year, the Tigers advanced out of pool play after tying Southern Wesleyan, 0-0 and beating Bethel College, 1-0.
Last season, CU failed to make it out of pool play after defeating Warner, 2-1 and falling to Bethel 2-1.

TIGERS BY THE NUMBERS

On the season, CU has spread their scoring out, as Marc Lawrence leads the way with eight goals. Connor Pugh follows with seven, trailed by Gustavo Izzo and Haylen West who have six each.
As a team, the Tiger defense has been stellar as CU ranks 12^th in the NAIA in shutouts per game, with 0.530.
These numbers have aided Owen Stott to ranking 18^th nationally in goals against per game with 0.880.

UPCOMING GAME

Following this match, the Tigers will move to their second pool play game on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. ET. Here, they will face Judson University seeking to advance to the semifinal by winning Pool B.

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