TU's 11th-Seeded Men's Soccer Team To Host San Diego In NCAA Sweet Sixteen

The 11th-seeded Tulsa men's soccer team will host San Diego in the NCAA Championship Sweet Sixteen on Sunday, beginning at 5 p.m. at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium in Tulsa.

The Golden Hurricane (14-5-1) is on a four-game winning streak, and has only lost one game in the last nine dating back to Oct. 8th, after topping South Florida (1-0 in OT) in the Second Round. TU received a bye in the NCAA First Round.

This is the eighth year the Golden Hurricane has made an appearance in the NCAA Championship. TU's NCAA appearances have come in 1991, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012. Tulsa has an 8-7-1 mark in tournament play.

TU ranks fifth in scoring offense (2.35 gpg), sixth in total goals (47), eighth in total points (131), 18th in total assists (37) and 21st in won-lost-tied percentage (.725) among the nation's best. Individually, Cristian Mata has a team-best 13 goals and 32 points, while Bryce Follensbee has nine goals, and Omar Mata and Akeil Barrett have each netted seven goals. Mark Pais has logged all 1,842 minutes in goal, picked up 72 saves and has eight shutouts on the year.

USD defeated #25 Cal State Northridge and #6 UCLA in the first and second rounds, respectively, to advance to the third round. The Toreros have a 13-8 mark, but have gone 11-2 in their last 13 games. San Diego's Dan Delgado has a team-high nine goals and nine assists for 27 points, while Patrick Wallen has eight goals. Drew Ilijevski has played the majority of minutes between the posts, and has 42 saves and four shutouts this season.