Men's Soccer Hosts UNCG In NCAA Tournament First Round On Friday

DURHAM, N.C.?The Duke University men's soccer team take to the field in the NCAA Tournament for the 22nd time in school history on Friday night when the Blue Devils host UNC Greensboro in an NCAA Championship first round contest. Duke and the Spartans kick off at Koskinen Stadium on Nov. 22, at 7 p.m.

Tickets are available for $7 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and $1 for children under five. Fans can order tickets by calling the ticket office at 919-681-BLUE or they can be purchased at the gate. Those unable to make it out to the game can follow the live statistics online at www.GoDuke.com.

The Blue Devils and Spartans are meeting for the 15th time overall and for the second time in the NCAA Tournament. Duke owns a 12-2 all-time record against UNC Greensboro, including a 3-0 win in the first round of the NCAA Championship in 1995. The two squads most recently met in an exhibition game this season with the Spartans emerging victorious, 1-0. UNC Greensboro last beat the Blue Devils, 2-1 in double overtime in the Big Four Tournament in 2001.

Duke heads into its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament and 22nd overall with a 26-20-1 all-time record in NCAA postseason play. The Blue Devils are 10-9 overall in NCAA Tournament first round contests. They twice received a bye to the second round. In 2007, Duke lost at Louisville 1-0 in the opening round after advancing to the quarterfinals in 2006.

The Blue Devils enter the NCAA Tournament with a 10-7-2 overall record and most recently fell to Virginia, 4-2 in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers went on to upset top-ranked Wake Forest and finish as ACC runners-up. Duke sports a 7-3-1 record at Koskinen Stadium and has posted six of its nine shutouts on the year at home. Senior Mike Grella headlines the offense with 14 goals and eight assists for 36 points. He currently ranks fourth in the nation in points per game (2.0) and 11th in goals per game (0.78). The native of Glen Cove, N.Y., has had a hand in 22 if Duke's 30 goals this season. Sophomore Cole Grossman has contributed four goals and four assists for 12 points from the midfield.

Defensively, it is a trio of seniors who anchor the Blue Devils' backline. Darrius Barnes, Pavelid Castaneda, and Brendan Fitzgerald have combined their efforts to help post nine shutouts on the year. Duke has allowed just eight goals in 11 games at home in 2008. Fitzgerald is in goal for the Blue Devils and currently sports a 0.99 goals against average and a .776 save percentage.

UNC Greensboro earned its ninth trip to the Division I NCAA Tournament and fourth in the past five years after capturing the Southern Conference Tournament title to earn the automatic bid. The Spartans entered the conference tournament as the No. 7 seed and upset second-seeded Furman in the opening round. In the semifinals, UNCG got past Georgia Southern 3-2 in penalty kicks after a scoreless 110 minutes. The Spartans triumphed over College of Charleston 2-1 in the title tilt to earn the automatic berth.

Tim Masters leads the scoring charge with 10 points from four goals and two assists in his 15 games. Tebatso Manyama and Jokull Elisabetarson both have nine points on the year, while three other players have at least two goals to their names. Nate Berry sees the majority of action in goal and has a 1.78 goals against average and a .685 save percentage in 12 starts. The Spartans are 2-6-0 this season on opponents' home fields and 4-6-2.

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