No. 11/13 Men's Soccer to Face No. 6 Syracuse in Sweet 16

HOW SWEET IT IS
No. 13 Seattle U men’s soccer earned the 11 seed in this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Tournament and defeated No. 25 UCLA in the school’s first NCAA DI tournament game hosted on campus last Sunday. The Redhawks made their first appearance in the Division I tournament in 2013, defeating Creighton, 2-1, before returning to Seattle to face Washington in the Second Round. Coming into this Sunday’s game, Seattle U is tied with Creighton for most wins in the nation (18).

REDHAWKS DOWN BRUINS
A 40th minute goal from Hamza Haddadi, his 10th of the season, on a long pass in from Nick Prasad would be the game-winner vs. the Bruins, who were in last year’s national championship game. Haddadi tapped the ball just past the UCLA keeper after a defensive miscommunication by the Bruins. Shane Haworth made six key saves in goal for the Redhawks. This marks SU’s first-ever trip to the Sweet 16 as well as their first-ever win vs. UCLA.

NATIONALLY RANKED REDHAWKS
The Redhawks celebrated eight straight weeks in the NSCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Top 25 leading up to the NCAA Tournament, ranked No. 13 twice (Nov. 3, Nov. 17), No. 15 twice (Nov. 10, Oct. 27), No. 19 twice (Oct. 6, Oct. 20) and No. 24 twice (Sept. 29, Oct. 13).

In 2014, Seattle U earned the program’s first two Division I national rankings since reclassification in the NSCAA/Continental Tire Top 25. On Sept. 2, 2014 the Redhawks were ranked No. 22 and on Sept. 30, 2014 they were ranked No. 24.

2015 NCAA RPI RELEASED
With the No. 11 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, the Redhawks received their highest ever RPI ranking two weeks ago (Nov. 9) at No. 9. Seattle U is the second highest rated team in Washington, Oregon, and California behind Stanford (No. 8 seed). RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is used to rank teams based upon wins, losses, and strength of schedule, and is primarily used for seeding for the national postseason tournament.

JESUIT PRESENCE IN SWEET 16
One quarter (4) of the 16 teams remaining are Jesuit Catholic institutions - Seattle University, Georgetown, Creighton, and Boston College.

SCOUTING NO. 6 SYRACUSE
Syracuse makes its fourth all-time appearance in the tournament this season, including their second straight and third in the last four years with a a program-best No. 6 seed. The Orange defeated Dartmouth, 2-1, in a come-from-behind matchup on Sunday to advance to the Third Round. Ben Polk leads Syracuse with 11 goals on the season, followed closely behind by Julian Buescher with eight goals and a team-high 10 assists. In net, Hendrik Hilpert has made 13 starts in 22 contests with a 0.89 GAA and a 69.6 save pct. Sunday’s game marks the first all-time meeting between the two SU’s.

ROAD TRIPPIN’
Seattle is set to make the longest trip of the Sweet 16, traveling 2,748 miles to face Syracuse. Boston College will have the shortest trek, going just 439 miles to face Georgetown. Ohio State (2,480) and UCSB (2,389) will also make 2K+ mile trips this weekend to Stanford and Clemson, respectively.

OLSEN CLIMBS SU GOAL RECORDS
With his 14th and 15th goals of the season in the WAC tournament semifinals, David Olsen tied Miguel Gonzalez’s 2013 record for Seattle U’s most goals in a single season in Division I play. Several other Redhawks are nearing the top spots in Seattle U’s record books (see bottom left page 5).