GALESBURG — The Carl Sandburg College men’s soccer team earned the No. 8 seed in next week’s NJCAA Division II Championship as the Chargers make their first-ever appearance at nationals.
Sandburg (15-4) will begin pool play in the 12-team tournament at 11 a.m. Nov. 16 against 12th-seeded Massasoit (10-3-2) at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kan. The Chargers’ other match in pool play will be at 11 a.m. Nov. 17 against top-seeded CCBC Essex (16-1).
The winners of each of the four pools advance to the semifinal round Nov. 19. The championship match is scheduled for 4 p.m. Nov. 20.
All games in the tournament will be broadcast live and be available on demand through the NJCAA Network. Prices for the pay-per-view stream are $10 for a day pass, $25 for a tournament pass and $5 for the championship game. Visit njcaa.org/network for more information.
The Chargers, ranked 12th in the final regular-season poll, were invited to serve as the Midwest District’s automatic qualifier after Region IV tournament finalists Prairie State and Triton were both unable to participate in the national tournament. Sandburg had been eliminated in the semifinals of the Region IV tournament with a 1-0 double-overtime defeat at Prairie State.
Already this season, the Chargers have set a school record for victories and appeared in all 11 weeks of the national rankings. The Chargers were as high as No. 7 on a pair of occasions, the best ranking in program history.
NJCAA DIVISION II MEN’S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Pool Play, Nov. 15-17
Pool A
No. 1 CCBC Essex (16-1)
No. 8 Sandburg (15-4)
No. 12 Massasoit (10-3-2)
Pool B
No. 2 Pima (15-1-1)
No. 7 Southeastern (12-7-2)
No. 11 Muskegon (11-4-3)
Pool C
No. 3 Pearl River (12-0-3)
No. 6 St. Charles (13-4-3)
No. 10 Phoenix (10-4)
Pool D
No. 4 Georgia Military (13-2)
No. 5 Parkland (14-3-1)
No. 9 Mississippi Gulf Coast (11-5-2)
Semifinals
4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Nov. 19
Championship
4 p.m. Nov. 20
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: NJCAA DIVISION II MEN’S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Get text/email notifications of Sandburg Athletics results
Follow @SandburgNJCAA on Twitter