The pairings for the opening-round of the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship were announced on Sunday and the HAAC Tournament Champions, Lindenwood Lions, will travel to Ohio to take on the No. 3 seed, Rio Grande Red Storm (Ohio) on Saturday November 21.

Lindenwood will participate in the tournament for the first time since 2005 after they won the HAAC postseason tournament in dramatic fashion against Missouri Valley. The Lions and the Vikings finished regulation and overtime tied 2-2, and then were victorious in penalty kicks after goalie Victor Francoz scored the game-winning goal. On the way to the finals the Lions had to beat the No. 1 seed Benedictine Ravens and the No. 3 seed Baker Wildcats. The Lions won their final five out of six games to finish the 2009 season with a record of 9-9-3 and conference mark of 5-3-1.

The Lions are led by their freshman goalie Francoz, who was named to the HAAC All-Conference first team, after a stellar first season with Lindenwood. The freshman from France recorded five shutouts, compiled a GAA of 1.12 and only 22 goals compared to making 88 saves. During a four game winning-streak in the middle of the season, Francoz had a scoreless streak of over 200 minutes.

Leading the way for Lindenwood on the offensive side of the field is a pair of Lions from Sweden. Hannes Backstrom leads the Lions in goals with four and points with eight while fellow Swede, Robin Rundstorm, has netted three goals as a freshman. Sophomore Alexander Rivera has pitched in with a pair of goals and assists for six points and leads the team in shots on goal with 11.

The Lions will take on the No. 3 seed in the tournament Rio Grande who finished the season with a record of 15-3-2. The 2009 season was the first for the Red Storm in the Mid-South Conference where they finished second behind the No. 1 team in the country, Lindsey Wilson.

The Red Storm is led by freshman Scott Bailey who was named the Mid-South's conference player of the year and freshman of the year. Bailey compiled a total of 53 points on the year with 23 goals, which ranked fourth in all of the NAIA, and seven assists. Bailey was not the only offensive threat for the Red Storm as Richard Isberner scored 19 goals to go along with 10 assists.

In the net for the Red Storm is Jordan Lower, the conference goalie of the year. In 20 starts in goal, Lower only allowed 20 goals and the NAIA's third best GAA of 1.14. The sophomore from Ohio recorded eight shutouts in 2009.

During the season Rio Grande was an offensive juggernaut, scoring six or more goals seven times. Three Red Storm players scored double-digit goals and 14 different people netted at least one goal.

More information on the 2009 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship can be found here.

Also, click here for a full bracket.