RedStorm men earn at-large bid to nationals

Rio Grande Sports Information
     KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The University of Rio Grande got the at-large bid it was looking for.
     The No. 23-ranked RedStorm are among the 40 qualifiers for the 67th Annual NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship and will face No. 12 Georgia Gwinnett College in the tourney's second round on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 1 p.m., in Lawrenceville, Ga.
     First and second round matchups were announced Friday evening by the NAIA National Office.
     Rio Grande (11-5-3) is coming off a 2-1 loss to 15th-ranked West Virginia University-Tech in the River States Conference championship game.
     The setback forced head coach Scott Morrissey's squad into a sit-and-wait, fingers-crossed wait to see if it would earn an at-large bid to the tournament.
     Georgia Gwinnett (12-2-3) punched its ticket by defeating Bellevue (Neb.), 3-0, in the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) tournament championship.
     The Grizzlies are led offensively by freshman forward Ousmane Fall, who has 15 goals and four assists for a team-high 34 points, and sophomore forward Alejandro Contrera, who has 10 goals and six assists for 26 points.
     Rio Grande is led by freshman forward Facundo Rossich (Buenos Aires, Argentina) with 15 goals and 30 points, while sophomore midfielder Estevao Goncalves (Sao Paulo, Brazil) has 10 goals and five assists for 25 points, sophomore midfielder Hugo Ferreira (Paris, France) has eight goals and five assists for 21 points and junior midfielder Tommy Munoz Salazar (San Jose, Costa Rica) has eight goals and four assists for 20 points.
     Saturday's winner will advance to the tourney's final site - the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala. - for play Dec. 1-8.