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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster men's soccer team opens the postseason with a game against Bellevue in the semi-finals of the Unaffiliated Conference Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska. The game between the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference champions and the Griffins is on Friday, November 12 at 2:30 p.m. This is the 20th postseason appearance all-time for the Griffins and third straight trip to Omaha for the tournament.
Bellevue is the host and top seed at the tournament. The winner of the Westminster game will face the winner between Rocky Mountain and Great Falls on Saturday, November 13 at 5 p.m. All games will be played at Tranquility Park.
Westminster earned a trip to the tournament by finishing the regular season with a 9-8-1 overall record. They finished third in the Frontier Conference with a 1-3 mark, however the schedule they played earned them enough points to make the four-team field. They re coming off a 1-0-1 road trip to Arizona against Southwestern and Embry-Riddle. The Griffins finished the season 2-6-1 away from Dumke Field this season.
Westminster and Bellevue have met five times including a 1-0 win by Bellevue in Omaha on October 9 this season. Westminster is 0-5 in those all-time meetings with three of the five games being decided by one goal. The Griffins are 0-2 all-time against Bellevue in Omaha.
Live Stats
Live Stats will be available for all games during the tournament. The feed goes live shortly before the start of the game so fans can get all the action directly on their computer or mobile device. Visit www.WestminsterGriffins.com to access the Live Stats.
Scouting Bellevue
Bellevue enters the tournament with a 12-5-1 record during the regular season. They won the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference with a 4-0 record and earned the right to host this weekend's tournament. The Bruins were 7-4 at Tranquility Park this season and have won three of the last four overall. David Lastra leads the team with nine goals and 18 points. James Evison has added seven goals and two assists for 16 total points. Ryan Cantello is 28th nationally with nine assists. Sebastian Narvaez has recorded 58 saves with a 1.45 GAA in his 16 games between the pipes.
Series Record: Bellevue leads, 5-0-0
Last Meeting: Bellevue def. Westminster 1-0 (10/9/10)
Postseason History
This is the 20th season of postseason action for the Westminster men's soccer team. The team made its first appearance in the postseason with a runner-up finish at the 1998 District 7 tournament. The Griffins have qualified for the postseason every year since 2005 and have made nine trips since 2000. Westminster has never qualified for the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championships.
NAIA Modified RPI
The NAIA released the third edition of the NAIA Men's Soccer Modified Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) on October 27. Westminster is ranked 57th in the RPI with an index of 0.472. They were 40th in the index that was released on October 13. The modified RPI consists of the team's modified winning percentage, the opponents' winning percentage and the cumulative ranking points from the current NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll. Each of the three values has a weighted percentage calculated in the modified RPI. The RPI modifies the value of home/away/neutral results and adds more value for games against opponents ranked in the NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll. The final rating will be released on November 14.
Milestone Game
Westminster's game at Kansas Wesleyan on September 19 was the 500th game in school history. The Griffins went 423-221-36 in the first 500 games, all under current head coach
Chris Dorich. The .522 winning percentage is quite impressive considering the team went 6-18-3 during the first two seasons of the program. This is the 27th season of men's soccer at Westminster College.
Dumke Advantage
Since starting play on Dumke Field in 2006, Westminster has compiled a 32-9-2 record on its home field. They haven't lost more than once on the field since 2007 and have won 12 of the last 14 games played there. The Griffins have outscored the opposition 99-36 in the 43 games played at Dumke Field.
Looking Ahead
The field of 32 teams for the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship will be announced by 8 p.m. (CST) on Sunday, November 14. There will be 24-25 automatic berths into the tournament along with five-six at-large invites. The tournament begins on Saturday, November 20.
