MACOMB, Ill. –
The Western Illinois men's soccer team will face another tough road test as it travels to Tulsa, Okla. for the Tulsa Marriott Southern Hills Hurricane Classic this weekend.
The Fighting
Leathernecks (1-0-2) will begin the tournament with a matchup against No. 3 Tulsa at 7:35 p.m. on Friday before taking on SMU at noon on Sunday.
The Golden Hurricane advanced to the quarterfinals of last year's NCAA Championship before falling to top-seeded and eventual runner-up Akron by a 1-0 score. The match will mark the first time that Western has played a team ranked in the top 10 since a 2007 matchup with then No. 10 Creighton. The Leathernecks have not faced Tulsa since 2001 and will play SMU for the first time since 1989.
Series: Western trails 0-4-1
Last: Sept. 7, 2001: Tulsa won 3-2 (OT) at Springfield, Mo.
Head
Coach: Tom McIntosh
Alma
Mater, Year: Tulsa, '88
School
record: 169-108-26 (15th season)
Career
record: Same
2010 record: 3-0-0
Series: Western trails 0-4-1
Last: Nov. 3, 1989: SMU won 8-2 at Dallas
Head
Coach: Tim McClements
Alma
Mater, Year: Wheaton, '87
School
record: 19-14-4 (3rd season)
Career
record: 100-112-16 (13 seasons)
National Recognition
The Leathernecks are receiving early national recognition after their strong start against quality competition last week. Western is ranked as a top-50 team in the nation according to Top Drawer Soccer and will look to boost its resume against two quality opponents this weekend. Tulsa is currently ranked as the No. 3 team in the country and the top team in the Midwest Region in this week's NSCAA polls while SMU is ranked as the No. 2 team in the Midwest Region.
Ryan Shines in Goal
Western Illinois goalkeeper Andy Ryan has been nothing short of spectacular this season. Ryan has already recorded two shutouts in his first season as a starter. The junior has made 14 saves and allowed just one goal in 320 minutes of action this year. He has recorded a .933 save percentage to go along with a 0.28 goals against average.
Leathernecks picked third
Western
Illinois was selected to finish third in The Summit League preseason
poll. The Leathernecks finished with two first-place
votes in the poll, which is voted on by the league's seven head coaches.
Western finished with 27 total points in the poll after winning last
year's conference tournament.
Last
year's Summit League Tournament runner-up UMKC was picked first,
followed by 2009 regular-season champion Oakland. The top four teams in
the final regular-season standings will advance to the league tournament
in November.
A tough road ahead
The
Leathernecks will look to
navigate their way through another difficult non-conference schedule.
The team will face 2009 NCAA Tournament participants Drake, Green Bay
and Tulsa this season. Both Drake and Tulsa advanced to last year's
College Cup quarterfinals. Tulsa is currently ranked No. 7 in the NSCAA
preseason poll while Drake is ranked No. 14. Green Bay is listed in the
"others receiving votes" category.
