November 5, 2006

GENEVA, N.Y.—The NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Committee announced the 57 teams that will compete for the 2006 national championship. Hobart College earned just its second NCAA bid, and first under Liberty League Coach of the Year Shawn Griffin.

Thirty-six conference champions were awarded automatic qualification for the 2006 championship. Four teams were selected from Pool B, which consists of independent institutions, and institutions that are members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification. The final 17 berths were reserved for Pool C, which are institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that are not the conference champion and any remaining Pool B teams.

St. Lawrence University earned the Liberty League's automatic bid, but the strength of the conference was rewarded with not one, but two additional bids. Hamilton join Hobart as a Pool C team.

The tournament pairings will be announced on Monday morning. Seven first round games will be played on Nov. 8. The tournament will continue over the weekend of Nov. 10-12.

Hobart made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1992. That year, the Statesmen posted a 15-0-0 regular season record and entered the tournament as the top-ranked team in the nation. Hobart tied in the first round and did not advance after losing a penalty kick shootout.

This year's Statesmen posted a 12-3-2 regular season record, the highest winning percentage (.765) for a Hobart soccer team since 1992.