Clarksville, Ark.--The Eagles (11-8-0, 8-5-0) will make their fifth consecutive playoff appearance on November 5th when they take on McMurry University (10-7-2, 9-3-1) in Richardson, Texas, in the American Southwest Conference men's soccer championship tournament. Game time is 1 p.m.
The sixth-seeded Eagles will play an Indians squad that defeated them 3-1 earlier in the season. Ozarks will be without leader-scorer Ron Hogsett for the game. Hogsett had 11 goals and 10 assists during the regular season. The winner advances to the semifinals and will play Austin College on November 6th at 1 p.m. The championship match will be held on November 7th. "We respect McMurry’s team tremendously and will we go out as strong as we can and do all we can to win," said head coach Dave De Hart. "I’m excited to play any of the teams a second time around. We will be playing without our leading scorer though, but we’ve dealt with this type of adversity all season. We’ve played a lot of big matches this season without some of our top players. And as the sixth seed, I’m sure we are the underdog again." After posting a 10-0-2 ASC record, UT-Dallas will be the host school for the six-team tournament. The winner of the ASC tournament will earn an automatic berth in the NCAA III championship tournament. Ozarks won the ASC tournament last year and advanced to the NCAA III tournament in Atlanta, Georgia, when they defeated UT-Dallas 3-2 in Richardson. The Eagles have been in the finals of the ASC tournament in three of the last four years. "I think anybody can beat anybody in this tournament," said De Hart. "The competition is as close as I’ve ever seen it. It should be a real dogfight and we will not take any team lightly. The guys are excited and confident to play because we’ve won before. And, it’s a chance to defend our title. But, starting today, everyone has an equal record." The Eagles won 1-0 against Texas Lutheran on Sunday in Seguin, Texas. Ozarks got a goal in the 35th minute from Ron Hogsett on a pass from Ryan Skelly to lift Ozarks to a 1-0 shutout victory. It was Hogsett’s 11th goal of the season and was the Eagles seventh shutout of the year. Ozarks outshot the Bulldogs 17-14. Gordon had a team-best five shots. Goalkeepers Chris Schultz and Jeffrey Enevoldsen each spent 45 minutes in goal for the Eagles. Schultz had five saves and Enevoldson had three. ASC tournament schedule is as follows: Friday, November 5 (quarterfinals) Game 1: McMurry (#3) vs. Ozarks (#6), 1:00 Game 2: Hardin-Simmons (#4) vs. Schreiner (#5), 3:30 Saturday, November 6 (semifinals) Game 3: Austin College (#2) vs. Winner of Game 1, 1:00 Game 4: UT-Dallas (#1) vs. Winner of Game 2, 3:30 Sunday, November 7 (championship) Game 5: Winner game 3 vs. Winner game 4, 2:00
Topics: Athletics