Jayhawks Face Denver in NCAA Tournament First Round

Nov. 10, 2008

Complete NCAA Tournament Bracket in PDF Format

Stanford Region Tournament Central

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

After defeating No. 8 Texas A&M and tying No. 18 Missouri at the Big 12 Soccer Championship last week, the Kansas soccer team will face Denver in a first-round NCAA Tournament match in Palo Alto, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 14.

The Jayhawks will match up with the Pioneers at 6:30 p.m. CST at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. The host school, Stanford, meets UC Santa Barbara at 9 p.m. CST on Friday as well.

The Jayhawks will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2004 season, and fourth overall in the 14-year history of the soccer program. Kansas (12-7-2) finished seventh in the Big 12 Conference, but upset the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament last week and played to a 1-1 tie with eventual tournament champion Missouri.

Head coach Mark Francis is 3-3 all-time in the NCAA Tournament – all at KU.

The winner of the Kansas-Denver match will meet the Stanford-UC Santa Barbara winner on Sunday.

Denver (19-2-2) earned an automatic berth by virtue of their Sun Belt Conference title. The Jayhawks and Pioneers have never met on the soccer field.

Stanford – the No. 1 seed in the region – finished second in the Pac-10 and boasted an 18-1-1 overall record. UC Santa Barbara placed second in the Big West Conference with a record of 12-6-3.

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