News Release
NCAA BOUND! #7 RANKED NJCU RECEIVES AN AT-LARGE BID TO THE 2007 NCAA DIVISION TOURNAMENT, WILL PLAY FIRST-ROUND VS. CASTLETON
INDIANAPOLIS, IN�For the second time in three years, the New Jersey City University men�s soccer team will play in the National Collegiate Athletic Conference (NCAA) Division III National Championship Tournament. The #7 ranked Gothic Knights (16-4-1), the New Jersey Athletic Conference regular season champions and NJAC Tournament runners-up, will face Castleton State College (VT) in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday, November 10 at 6 p.m. in Newark, NJ.
As expected, NJCU, ranked seventh nationally by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, received one of 16 at-large, Pool C bids to the NCAAs after the top-seeded Knights dropped a 1-0 decision to #13/16 Montclair State University in the NJAC championship game on November 3.
Castleton (13-7-1) won the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) championship on November 3 as the top-seeded Spartans defeated #3 seeded Husson College, 2-1. The game will be the first-ever meeting between NJCU and Castleton, and the first time the Gothic Knights have ever faced any of the current 11 teams that comprise the NAC.
The sectional will be hosted by New York University at New Jersey Institute of Technology�s Lubetkin Field in Newark. NJCU is no stranger to the field turf complex. The Knights hosted an NJAC quarterfinal game on the field on October 28 2006, defeating Rowan University, 2-0. Since 1998, NJCU is 10-0 in all games played in the city of Newark, NJ.
The winner of the NJCU/Castleton game will meet the winner of NYU (13-4-1) and Hamilton College (9-4-3) in the Round of 32 on Sunday evening, at 7 p.m. NYU, a member of the University Athletic Association (UAA), which advanced to the NCAA Final Four last year as an at-large, once again received a Pool C nod and will host a regional. The Violets are ranked 24th nationally by D3Kicks.com; NJCU is 22nd overall in that poll. Hamilton reached the NCAAs by winning the Liberty League title.
NJCU has never faced Hamilton. The Knights have met NYU five times (1960, 1962, 2001, 2003, 2004) and the Violets lead the all-time series, 4-1; the teams have split their last two meetings with each school winning 1-0 on their home field.
Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites November 16-17 or 17-18. Winners of the four sectionals will advance to the finals November 23-24. All games, except the semifinals and finals, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. Disney Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida will be the site of this year�s national semifinals and finals.
NJCU is making its second-ever NCAA appearance and owns a 1-1-1 mark in the national tournament. In 2005, the Knights also received an at-large bid, defeating DeSales University in Virginia Beach, VA, 3-0, before tying York College (PA), 2-2 and advancing to the Sweet 16 by virtue of a 3-1 decision in penalty kicks. The College of New Jersey edged NJCU in the third round that year, 3-2, in Grantham, PA.
NJCU still has eight players remaining from that 2005 NCAA team, including seven of its 11 starters. Junior forward CRISTHIAN ACUNA (East Newark, NJ/Harrison), junior center midfielder JONATHAN BILBAO (Carteret, NJ/St. Benedict�s Prep) and twin brother and midfielder EDISON BILBAO, junior midfielders GONZALO DAPIA (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) and MIGUEL FONTAN (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst), senior forward MARCELO CARPIO (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) and senior defenders SCOTT MODZELEWSKI (Monroe, NJ/Monroe Township) and GREGORY EPSTEIN (Monroe, NJ/Monroe Township) all played on that 2005 squad.
Jonathan Bilbao is perhaps the most experienced of any player from that team. He had the game-winning goal against in the first round against DeSales, assisted on the second goal for a 2-0 lead against York, and assisted on a game-tying goal against TCNJ in the Sweet 16. He also buried the decisive penalty kick that sent NJCU to the third round. Edison Bilbao and Marcelo Carpio each converted penalty kicks in the Round of 32 contest.
�www.njcugothicknights.com�
Submitted 2007-11-05 21:57:11 by New Jersey City University Sports Information Department
