SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The seeds have officially been assigned for the 2012 Men's and Women's Soccer Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Championship Tournament Nov. 9-10 at Mangrum Soccer Field, it was announced Thursday.
The CSUSM men's and women's teams are the defending A.I.I. titleholders from 2011. The Cougar women won their third conference crown in the past four seasons, and the Cougar men won the first A.I.I. title in program history.
“We're excited to be in it. When you get in the postseason, everyone's record is the same at that point. It's an opportunity for us to play well and get results, and I think we have teams that can do that,” said CSUSM head coach
Ron Pulvers.
The 13
th-ranked CSUSM women's soccer team was granted the No. 1-seed and will face No. 4-seed University of Houston-Victoria in the conference semifinals. No. 2-seed Ashford (Iowa) is slated to play No. 3-seed Jamestown (N.D.) in the opposite semifinal.
The Cougars took the fourth-seed on the men's side of tournament. They will face top-seeded Ashford, currently ranked No. 18 in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll. The Cougars and Saints battled to a 1-1 tie on Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City.
The CSUSM-Ashford winner will advance to play the victor of No. 2-seed Jamestown and No. 3-seed UHV.
The women's final is set for 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 10 and will be followed by the men's final at 2:00 p.m.
The winner of the respective tournaments receives an automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament.
Tournament Schedule:
Friday, November 9:
|
Time |
Round |
Field |
Teams |
|
11:00 a.m. |
Women's Semifinal 1 |
Multipurpose Field |
No. 2 Ashford vs. No. 3 Jamestown |
|
11:00 a.m. |
Women's Semifinal 2 |
Mangrum Soccer Field |
No. 1 CSUSM vs. No. 4 University of Houston-Victoria |
|
2:00 p.m. |
Men's Semifinal 1 |
Multipurpose Field |
No. 2 Jamestown vs. No. 3 University of Houston-Victoria |
|
2:00 p.m. |
Men's Semifinal 2 |
Mangrum Soccer Field |
No. 1 Ashford vs. No. 4 CSUSM |
Saturday, November 10:
|
Time |
Round |
Field |
Teams |
|
11:00 a.m. |
Women's Conference Championship |
Mangrum Soccer Field |
Winner Women's Semifinal 1 vs. Winner Women's Semifinal 2 |
|
2:00 p.m. |
Men's Conference Championship |
Mangrum Soccer Field |
Winner Men's Semifinal 1 vs. Winner Men's Semifinal 2 |
