NCAA Release

The Lindenwood men's soccer team earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament field on Monday night. The Lions will be the first Lindenwood program to compete in a NCAA Tournament since the school gained full NCAA membership in September.

Lindenwood will enter the NCAA Division II Tournament as the only team in the country without a loss in 2013. The Lions are 17-0-3 and are riding a 29-game unbeaten streak. Lindenwood won the MIAA regular season title with a 7-0-1 record, and it captured the MIAA Tournament championship in a shootout last Saturday.

The Lions are the No. 1 seed in the Central Region and automatically advance to the Round of 16. Lindenwood will face the No. 2 seed in the region, Fort Hays State, for the regional championship on Nov. 21 and 22. The site of that match will be determined this weekend.

Lindenwood and Fort Hays State are no strangers as they were the top two teams in the MIAA this year. In the first meeting in St. Charles, Lindenwood trailed twice before battling back for a 4-3 win. Last weekend in Olathe, Kan., the Lions and Tigers met again for the MIAA Championship. The two teams tied 0-0 before Lindenwood won the championship trophy with a 6-5 advantage in shootouts.

Lindenwood is led by one of the top defenses in the country, allowing less than one goal a game. The Lions have eight shutouts this season and have allowed more than one goal just two times. Fermin Hughes has seen most of the action in goal and has a 0.81 goals against average to go along with his 14-0-2 record.

Offensively, Lindenwood has a balanced attack that is averaging over two goals a game. Aris Nukic leads the team with 11 goals and 27 points.

The winner of that game will advance to a quarterfinal showdown on Nov. 23 or Nov. 24 against the champion of the Midwest regional. The winner of that will advance to the Final Four which will take place on Dec. 5-7 in Evans, Ga.

The Lions have experience a lot of postseason success since Carl Hutter took over as head coach in 1994. Most notably, Lindenwood won the 2004 NAIA National Championship after allowing just one goal in four games at the national tournament.