Monday, November 07, 2005

The Valparaiso University men's soccer team enters the 2005 Mid-Continent Conference Tournament this weekend in Kansas City, Mo. as the number four seed and will take on regular season champion Oakland Friday in the semifinals at 11:00 a.m.

The Crusaders finished the regular season at 6-9-2, but posted a 3-2-1 mark in the conference including a 1-0 win at Oakland on October 12. The loss was the Golden Grizzlies only conference setback this season as they went on to win the regular season crown with a 5-1 mark in Mid-Con action.

The winner of the Valpo-Oakland match will take on Friday's Oral Roberts-Western Illinois winner for the conference championship Sunday at 12:00 p.m. The victor will earn the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Men's College Cup. Valpo fell on the road to Oral Roberts 5-3 and played Western Illinois to a 0-0 (2ot) draw.

This trip to the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament is Valpo's first since 2002, and the Crusaders will be trying to win their first conference tournament title since 1996.