November 17, 1998

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The ACC swept the top three seeds and led all conferences with a total of four squads in the 32-team pairings for the 1998 NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Tournament. The tournament begins on Friday, but all four ACC schools host first-round matches on Sunday.

"In the past few years some people have really been slacking the ACC," said Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch, whose Cavaliers are seeded second. "I think this shows that the ACC is indeed the best men's soccer conference in the nation."

Leading the way for the ACC is top-ranked and #1 seed Clemson, which is coming off its first-ever ACC Championship. The Tigers (20-1) defeated Duke 1-0 in the finals on Sunday.

Clemson, which is led in scoring by Wojtek Krakowiak with 27 goals, will play Lafayette College (Easton, PA) of the Patriot League Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. on the Tigers' Riggs Field.

Clemson will be playing in their 20th NCAA Tournament and has posted a 35-18 record over the years in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers won the National Championship in 1984 and 1987.

Meanwhile, if the University of Virginia is to make it five national titles in the 1990s, it will not travel more than 90 miles to do so. The Cavaliers (14-3-3) are be the No. 2 overall seed and will take on Rider in the first round on Nov. 22 at Klockner Stadium.

This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Virginia is 33-13-4 all-time in the national tournament with titles in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994. Since 1989, the Cavaliers have posted a 29-3-3 mark in tournament play.

The No. 2 seed means that Virginia will play at home in the first three rounds should it not be eliminated. The Final Four will be Dec. 11 and 13 in Richmond.

"The (NCAA Selection) committee has sent a message as far as strength of schedule," said Gelnovatch moments after the UVa locker room erupted in jubilation at announcement of the Cavaliers' seeding.

Virginia had the second-toughest schedule in the nation, playing 11 teams with NCAA strength ratings of one or two. Only Maryland with 12 played more.

Duke (18-3) has been given the No. 3 seed in the event and will face Jacksonville (18-4) in the first round. That game will be played in Durham, N.C., at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.

This will be the fourth meeting between Duke and Jacksonville in mens soccer with Duke having won each of the first three meetings. The last time these two squads faced each other was a 2-1 Duke victory in 1990.

The selection is the fifth time in the 1990s Duke has advanced to postseason play in the NCAA Tournament (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998). Duke had gone two years without being chosen to play in the event after finishing as the runnerup in 1995. This marks the 14th appearance for Duke in the NCAA Mens Soccer Tournament and the 13th under head coach John Rennie in 20 seasons.

The Blue Devils, under the tutelage of Rennie, have made it to the Final Four four times. In 1982, Duke met Indiana in the national championship match and played an unbelievable eight-overtime contest only to lose 2-1 to the Hoosiers. Four years later in 1986, Rennies squad captured Dukes first national championship in any sport when they recorded a 1-0 shutout over Akron in the national championship match.

In 1992, the Blue Devils battled their way to a Final Four spot only to be sent home with a 3-0 loss in the semifinals to ACC foe Virginia. In 1995, Duke defeated Virginia 3-2 in the semifinals but fell to Wisconsin by a 2-0 score in the championship match.

The 1998 Blue Devils have been paced by the play of senior All-America Jay Heaps. He leads the team in scoring with 12 goals and seven assists for 31 points. Duke has recorded an impressive 12 shutouts in its 18 wins and have allowed just 14 goals all year.

Maryland (13-7), which lost to top-ranked Clemson in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament, will host Richmond on Sunday, Nov. 22, at 2 p.m. at Ludwig Field. If the Terps should win that game, they would next meet the winner of the Duke vs. Jacksonville game.

NCAA Men's Division I Tournament Pairings

Seeds: 
1. Clemson
2. Virginia
3. Duke
4. Washington
5. St. John's
6. UCLA
7. Cal State Fullerton
8. Indiana

First Round 
Friday, Nov. 20
William & Mary (14-7-2) at South Florida (12-7-2)

Saturday, Nov. 21 
Cincinnati (11-4-3) at Butler (15-4-1)
**Brown (13-5-2) at St. John's (14-4-3)
Southern Methodist (15-4-1) at Santa Clara (12-4-2)
San Jose State (14-5-1) at Stanford (14-4-2)

**- The Brown-St. John's game will be played at Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y.

Sunday, Nov. 22 
Lafayette (16-4-0) at Clemson (20-1-0)
Akron (17-2-1) at Indiana (18-2-0)
Penn State (13-5-2) at Connecticut (17-3-0)
UNC Greensboro (16-3-2) at Washington (16-3-0)
Jacksonville (16-4-0) at Duke (18-3-0)
Richmond (14-5-2) at Maryland (13-7-0)
Creighton (14-3-2) at St. Louis (14-4-1)
Fresno State (11-5-5) at UCLA (16-3-0)
San Diego (11-8-0) at CS Fullerton (14-4-2)
VCU (12-5-3) at South Carolina (15-4-0)
Rider (13-7-1) at Virginia (14-3-3)

Second Round (To be completed by Nov. 29) 
Clemson/Lafayette vs. S. Florida/William & Mary
Butler/Cincinnati vs. Indiana/Akron
St. John's/Brown vs. UConn/Penn State
Santa Clara/SMU vs. Washington/UNCG
Duke/Jacksonville vs. Maryland/Richmond
St. Louis/Creighton vs. UCLA/Fresno St.
CS Fullerton/San Diego vs. Stanford/San Jose St.
South Carolina/VCU vs. Virginia/Rider 

Quarterfinals 
To be completed by Nov. 29 

Semifinals -- Friday, Dec. 11 
Quarterfinal winners, 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m
Richmond, Va. 

Final -- Sunday, Dec. 13 
Semifinal winners, 2:00 p.m.
Richmond, Va.