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American to Face Ohio State in NCAA First Round
Winner of Eagles-Buckeyes game to play Wake Forest on Sunday

Nov. 19, 2001

Brett Niebling's penalty kick clinched the Patriot League Tournament title for American and sent the Eagles to their sixth-ever NCAA Tournament in the program's history.

WASHINGTON -- The American men’s soccer team will play Ohio State this Friday, Nov. 23, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. The 2001 Eagles earned the program’s sixth-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament (bracket) after defeating Holy Cross, 5-3, in penalty kicks on Sunday for the Patriot League Championship.

American’s current record stands at 11-7-2, 8-1-0 in the Patriot League. The Eagles entered the Patriot League Championship as the No. 2 seed behind Holy Cross after losing only one game in its inaugural season in the Patriot League.

Second-year head coach Todd West (George Mason '88) has been with American for six seasons, as he served as an assistant coach before assuming his current head spot. He holds high expectations for his squad as they head into the NCAA’s in 2001.

“Our schedule this season has prepared us to win in the NCAA’s,” said West. “We are all excited to be here, but I expect us to win. Ohio State will be a good team to face, as we have not played them yet this year and we will face them next season at the Penn State/Nike Tournament.”

American’s last appearance at the NCAA Tournament was in 1997 when the Eagles completed their second-best season to-date (17-4-4). The team marched methodically to the Tournament Quarterfinals and the Elite Eight while earning the seventh seed in their first appearance since 1985, only the fifth in the program’s 49-year history.

The Eagles stand at 7-5 all-time in NCAA Tourament play. The program’s top performance came in 1985, when the 16-2-2 Eagles advanced to the NCAA Division I final and played in the longest championship game in NCAA history (eight overtimes) before UCLA claimed the game, 1-0, to clinch the 1985 championship title.

American University, which is in its inaugural year as a member of the Patriot League, officially joined the conference on July 1. The University, founded in 1893, fields a 19-sport Division I athletics program, featuring 10 women’s sports and nine for men.