WRAL Sports Fan

Soccer

"Big Four" Teams move on to Second Round in Soccer Playoffs

Nov 22, 2009

The "big four" schools of tobacco road are all ranked in the top 25 and playing in the second round of the NCAA playoffs, but it's not march yet so what's all the commotion about?

UNC, N.C. State, Duke, and Wake Forest will all see action today in the second round of the 2009 men's NCAA soccer playoffs. The quest for the college cup has been whittled down to 32 teams and seven ACC teams are still in the hunt.

The fourth ranked tar heels host Brown at 2 p.m. this afternoon in Chapel Hill. After receiving a first round bye, a win for UNC today would launch them into a third round match up against the winner of Indiana and Butler. Carolina holds the 5th overall seed in the tournament.

The N.C. State men's soccer team also comes off a first round bye and will play host to the Portland Pilot's  at 1:00 p.m. today at Dail Soccer Field in Raleigh. The 13th ranked Wolfpack last hosted a NCAA  tournament game in 2005 suffering a loss to Clemson in the second round. The pack maintain the 15th overall seed in the tournament.

Duke slipped past Winthrop 3-2 in the first round of the NCAA tournament and travels to Michigan State to play the 14th seeded Spartans in the second round. Kick off is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Wake Forest comes off a bye with the third overall seed in the tournament facing 18th-ranked UNC-Wilmington in a pivotal second round match- up. The start time is slated for 5 p.m. Wake is unbeaten in 12 of its last 13 NCAA Tournament games.

Virginia and Boston College both host second round games today at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. respectively.