INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Colonial Athletic Association Champion William & Mary men's soccer team makes its 16th appearance in the NCAA Division I Championship and received a home match when the bracket was announced on Monday afternoon. The Tribe hosts No. 25-ranked Columbia in the opening round on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. It marks the fourth time that W&M will host an NCAA Tournament match at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field and the winner advances to take on Atlantic Coast Conference Champion and No. 1 overall seed Wake Forest on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 5 p.m.
The Tribe won its eighth CAA Championship on Sunday afternoon rallying from a 1-0 halftime deficit behind four goals in the final 45 minutes. After sophomore
Julian Ngoh tied the game at one in the 54th minute with his second goal of the season, CAA Player of the Year
Antonio Bustamante scored three times in 12 minutes to propel the Tribe to the title. Bustamante was named the Most Outstanding Performer of the CAA Championship and was joined on the league's all-championship team by senior
Riley Spain and juniors
Remi Frost and
Ryder Bell.
W&M enters the NCAA Tournament on a 10-match unbeaten streak (7-0-3), its longest since an 18-game stretch in 1996. The Green and Gold is 11-4-5 on the year after winning all three games of the CAA Championship last week. The Tribe is making its first NCAA appearance since 2013 and its fourth under head coach
Chris Norris. The Green and Gold will host a tournament match in its fourth-straight appearance. The Tribe hosted NCAA Tournament games in 2008, 2010 and 2013.
Columbia, which is ranked No. 25 in the latest United Soccer Coaches National Rankings, is riding a five-match win streak entering the NCAA Championship. The Lions are 11-2-3 on the season with its lone setbacks coming to Pittsburgh and Ivy League Champion Dartmouth. The Lions, which were 5-1-1 in the Ivy League, have shutout 11 of its 16 opponents this season and rank second in the country in shutout percentage. Columbia is making its first NCAA appearance since 1993.
The 48-team NCAA Championship field is made up of the champions of 24 conferences, who qualified automatically, in addition to 24 teams that were selected at-large. The top 16 teams were seeded and receive first round byes. All second-round games will take place Sunday, Nov. 19. The third round will be played Nov. 25 and 26, while the quarterfinals will be played Dec. 1 and 2. The Men's College Cup will be held Dec. 8 and 10 at Talen Energy Stadium in Philadelphia with live coverage on ESPNU for the semifinals and ESPN2 for the national championship game.
Tickets for the NCAA First-Round match-up between W&M and Columbia are available through the Tribe Ticket Office online at
TribeAthletics.com/NCAA17 or by calling (757) 221-3340. Ticket prices are $8 for adults and $3 for youth and students.
