NCAA MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND - Thursday, November 18, 2010
#11 Monmouth Hawks (14-1-4) vs. Dartmouth Big Green (10-6-1)
Location: The Great Lawn - West Long Branch, N.J.
Kickoff: 12:00 p.m.
Video Streaming: www.PackNetwork.com  
Live Stats: www.GoMUHawks.com

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University men's soccer team, ranked #11 in the NSCAA/HendrickCars.com Top-25 Poll, hosts Dartmouth from the Ivy League in the NCAA Tournament First Round on Thursday at 12:00 pm. This marks MU's second straight time hosting an NCAA Tournament First Round match as it advanced past Connecticut a season ago in a dramatic shootout on The Great Lawn.

IT'S TOURNEY TIME
Monmouth is making its third all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament this season, also qualifying in 2006 and 2009. The Hawks dropped a 1-0 result at St. John's in 2006. Last season, MU advanced past #12 Connecticut in a shootout, marking the program's first NCAA victory, before falling at #9 Harvard. This season, the Hawks are paced by two-time NEC Player of the Year and Hermann Trophy candidate Ryan Kinne, as well as keeper Bryan Meredith, who was named the NEC Tournament MVP and is also a Hermann Trophy candidate. The Hawks come into the NCAA Tournament on a 12-game unbeaten streak after capturing the program's third league tournament title in five seasons this past weekend on The Great Lawn. Top-seeded MU defeated third-seeded Saint Francis University (Pa.), 1-0 to win the championship on Sunday.

BREAKING DOWN THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth comes into the match on Thursday with a 10-6-1 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the Ivy League. The Big Green finished the regular season in third place in the Ivy League behind Princeton (13-3-1, 7-0-0 Ivy) and Penn (12-5-0, 5-2-0 Ivy), and above Brown (11-3-3, 3-3-1 Ivy), as all four teams qualified for the 2010 NCAA Tournament. DC is led in scoring by junior forward Lucky Mkosana, who has four goals and three assists. Teammate Andrew Olsen is second on the team with three goals and a team-high four assists. Two keepers have seen time for the Big Green, led by Lyman Missimer, who has a 5-2-0 record and a 1.14 goals against average while posting a pair of shutouts. Sean Donovan has a 5-4-1 mark and a 1.25 gaa with one shutout. Dartmouth posted a 3-3-1 road record while outscoring the opposition, 26-21 this year. The Big Green ended the season on a four-game winning streak, posting back-to-back 1-0 shutout wins to end the season over Cornell and Brown.