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HAMILTON, N.Y. (11/15/11) – The Colgate men's soccer team will travel to Piscataway, N.J. for a matchup against Rutgers in the First Round of the 2011 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.
 
The Raiders, who will be making their sixth NCAA appearance, clinched a spot after defeating American 2-0 on Sunday to win the 2011 Patriot League Championship in Washington, D.C. Colgate will be one of the 48 teams to participate in the tournament, winning one of the 22 automatic bids.
  
NCAA TOURNAMENT PLAY
The Raiders have made NCAA appearances in 1959, 1966, 1997, 2007 and most recently, 2008. In 1959 and 1966, Colgate hosted Bridgeport in the NCAA Playoffs, falling 3-2 in overtime and then 3-1 both in Hamilton, N.Y. The Raiders then returned to the tournament in 1997, experiencing a 2-0 setback at Bowling Green in the Play-in game. After winning the PL Championships in 2007 and 2008, Colgate had back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament, but fell to South Florida 2-1 and then to Boston College 2-0 both on the road in the first round. The team will look to make program history with its first win in NCAA Tournament play on Thursday.
 
SCORING LEADERS
Patriot league Offensive Player of the Year and Tournament MVP, Steven Miller, continues to lead the team with 23 points from 11 goals and one assist. The forward is followed by All-Patriot League Second Team selection junior Shane Conlin and PL All-Tournament Team member Mike Reidy. Conlin has 10 points from four goals and two assists while Reidy has two goals and four assists for eight points. In fourth place is sophomore Barrett Metzger with a team-best six assists for six points.
 
DEFENDING THE NET
In goal, the Raiders are led by All-Patriot League Second Team selection junior Grant Reed. The keeper has an assist, nine shut outs, a 0.55 goals against average, and a total of 44 saves for a .800 save percentage. Behind him is senior Chris Miller who has played in five games and has a .615 save percentage. Miller stepped into net and made a save during the penalty kicks in the PL Semifinal game against Lehigh to help the team advance to the PL Championship game.
 
SERIES
This will be the ninth meeting between the two teams, with Colgate holding a 6-2 advantage in the all-time series since the teams first met in 1963. The Raiders have won two of the three meetings at Rutgers and have won the last five meetings in the overall series. Colgate's most recent win was a 5-1 victory over the Scarlet Knights on October 30th, 1971 in Hamilton, N.Y.
 
SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights (9-5-3, 6-1-2 BIG EAST), who received an at-large bid to the tournament on Monday, are coming off a 3-1 loss to Connecticut in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals on Nov. 6. This will be the team's 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, including three Final Four matches and the 1990 National Championship game for a 13-12-2 all-time record in NCAA games, and a 7-6-1 mark in first round matchups. Rutgers' last tournament appearance was in 2006 when it fell to Rhode Island in penalty kicks, 4-2, after a 1-1 double overtime tie in the first round in Piscataway, N.J.
 
The team is led by All-BIG EAST Rookie Team selection Juan Pablo Correa, sophomore Kene Eze, and All-BIG EAST Third Team member senior Ibrahim Kamara. Correa has 15 points from five goals and five assists. The freshman is tied with Eze who also has 15 points from six goals and three assists. Behind them is Kamara who has 12 points from four goals and four assists. In net is junior Kevin McMullen who has three shut outs and a total of 56 saves for a .718 save percentage.

MILLER AND MCLAUGHLIN WIN PL MAJOR AWARDS
Steven Miller and Jimmy McLaughlin were named the Patriot League Offensive Player and Rookie of the Year respectively by the league last week. Miller received the Offensive Player of the Year accolades after an impressive performance this season that earned him three BRINE PL Offensive Player of the Week awards this season. McLaughlin was named the Rookie of the Year for his contribution to the team's success this season. The three-time BRINE PL Rookie of the Week has played and started in all 21 games this season.
 
FIVE RAIDERS MAKE ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE TEAMS
Steven Miller was named to the All-Patriot League First Team along with senior co-captain Mike Reese and junior Patrick Letourneau. Juniors Shane Conlin and Grant Reed were second team selections. The five selections were a league-high, matching Lehigh, which also had five players named to the All-Patriot League Teams.