Brackets are kind to locals

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - The Towson University men’s soccer team sat anxiously Monday at Bill Bateman’s at the intersection of York Road and Cross Campus Boulevard, awaiting the intersection of hard work and fate.

And when the 2006 NCAA Division I tournament field was announced live on ESPNews, the Tigers (14-1-3) had earned the No. 15 seed and a first-round bye.

“It was great, we were all jumping up and down,” Tigers senior captain Andrew Marshall said. “We were on the last screen ... but to see our name up there, it was awesome.”

Towson will play the winner of Fairfield-Connecticut. The time and location of the game is yet to be determined.

“The players worked hard to get where we were, and it was well earned,” said Towson coach Frank Olszewski.

The Tigers were ousted from the Colonial Athletic Association tournament by George Mason Friday, but they earned their second NCAA trip under Olszewski.

Towson was only one of a number of local college teams to reach the NCAA tournament level.

The Maryland men (15-4-1) earned the No. 5 seed and will be playing the winner of Monmouth-St. John’s on Nov. 15. The defending NCAA champion Terps lost to Duke, 1-0, in the ACC semifinals Friday.

On the Division I women’s side, Navy (21-1) will face William & Mary (16-1-3) Friday in Chapel Hill, N.C., in its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2003.

The Midshipmen earned an automatic bid after defeating Colgate Sunday in the Patriot League championship. William & Mary received an at-large bid after losing in a shootout to Old Dominion in the CAA semifinals.

Navy got a huge boost this season by scoring a 1-0 win over nationally ranked Penn State, the Big Ten champion, on Oct. 26.

“Any time you beat a top-10 team, it makes you believe you can play with anybody year after year,” senior midfielder Molly Burd said. “We’re ready to play William & Mary.”

The winner of Navy-William & Mary will face the winner of UNC-Asheville and top-ranked North Carolina, the latter of which is a perennial national championship contender.

In Division III action, Johns Hopkins is sending both its men’s and women’s teams to the tournament after each won their Centennial Conference championships Sunday. The Hopkins men (17-1-2) earned a first-round bye and will play the winner of Christopher Newport-Chestnut Hill at Homewood Field Saturday at 7 p.m. The Hopkins women (17-2) will take on Salisbury (10-6-1) at Christopher Newport (Va.) in a first-round game.

Also, the Villa Julie College women (14-7) will host College of Notre Dame (9-7-2) Wednesday in a first-round game. Last month, the two teams played a regular-season game, with Villa Julie winning, 4-1. The winner of Wednesday’s game will advance to Saturday’s second round to play at The College of New Jersey.

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