CCAC News
Posted by Dave Laketa - Thu, Nov. 1, 2012 - [ Men's Soccer ] - Viewed 481 times

CHICAGO --- Using a three-game conference winning streak at the end of the season just to get into the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Postseason Tournament one year ago, Cardinal Stritch University finds itself as the team to beat in 2012 after the Wolves claimed their first-ever regular-season conference title and earned one of two league bids to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time this fall.

The second bid goes to the winner of the seven-team league tournament, which opens up at three different sites on Saturday.  If Cardinal Stritch also claims the CCAC Tournament title, the conference's second bid goes to Saint Xavier University as the second-place finisher during the regular season. 

As the No. 1 seed, the Wolves (12-4-1) earn a first-round bye in the tournament and will face the winner of the Holy Cross College/Robert Morris University match, which will be played at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.  That will be a rematch of the Sept. 25 contest when Holy Cross knocked off the Eagles, 2-1.   Holy Cross (9-6-2) enters as the No. 5 seed, while Robert Morris (12-4-1) is the No. 4 seed.  The latter is the only team to have beaten the front-running Wolves, which was a 1-0 contest back on Oct. 13.

On the other side of the bracket, defending tournament champion Saint Xavier (12-5-1), as the No. 2 seed, will host No. 7 Illinois Institute of Technology (8-8-2), which tied Cardinal Stritch, 4-4, at the beginning of October (Oct. 3).  That game is slated to start at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

That winner will square off against the winner of the match between No. 6 Judson University (8-7-3) and No. 3 Olivet Nazarene University (11-4-3), which played to a 2-2 tie in the first game of the conference season (Sept. 22).  Those two teams will square off Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

Semifinal round games take place at Cardinal Stritch and the site of the other highest remaining seed on Wednesday, Nov. 7, with the tournament championship slated for Nov. 10 again at the site of the highest remaining seed.   

The complete schedule follows:

Saturday, Nov. 3 - First Round
• No. 5 Holy Cross (9-6-2) at No. 4 Robert Morris (12-4-1), 3:30 p.m.
• No. 6 Judson (8-7-3) at No. 3 Olivet Nazarene (11-4-3), 4:30 p.m.
• No. 7 Illinois Tech (8-8-2) at No. 2 Saint Xavier (12-5-1), 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 7 - Semifinal Round
• TBD at No. 1 Cardinal Stritch (12-4-1)

Saturday, Nov. 10 – Championship
• TBD at TBD