SEC Soccer Tournament Bracket Released; Florida Enters as Top Seed
Sunday, November 1, 2009 | Soccer
Top-seeded Florida (14-4-2, 8-1-2 SEC) faces No. 8 seed and defending tournament champion Tennessee (8-8-3, 4-5-2 SEC) on Wednesday, Nov. 4 in the opening round of the 2009 Southeastern Conference Soccer Tournament. The SEC Tournament is set for Nov. 4-8 at the Orange Beach SportsPlex in Orange Beach , Ala.
Florida earned the No. 1 seed after claiming the SEC title Friday with a 3-0 win over No. 13 South Carolina. The title was the fourth consecutive and the 10th in the program's 15-year history. The Gators face No. 8 seed Tennessee at 6 p.m. (ET) in Wednesday's opening round of the SEC Tournament.
The SEC features three teams that appear in the Oct. 26 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) top 25 poll – No. 10 Florida, No. 13 South Carolina and No. 16 LSU. Georgia appears in the No. 22 spot on the Oct. 26 SoccerTimes.com poll. Four teams ranked in national polls heading into the tournament is the most in the history of the SEC Tournament.
When Florida and Tennessee met in regular-season action on Oct. 16 in Knoxville, Tenn., the match ended in a 2-2 2OT tie. UF freshman Holly King headed in an Angela Napolitano corner kick in the opening half and sophomore Tahnai Annis tied the match in the 86th minute when she put in the deflection off Erika Tymrak's shot. Tennessee scored in each half, with the goals coming from Chelsea Hatcher and Julie Edwards. The Lady Vols are led this season by senior Mick Imgram, who tops all league scorers with her 12 goals scored in 2009.
As a result of the landmark agreement with ESPN and the partnership with XOS Digital, for the first time in SEC history all matches from the 2009 SEC Soccer Tournament will be available to fans live via either television or streaming on SECsports.com. The league's media coverage plans include:
| Television |
| · The championship match will be aired on ESPNU on November 8, 2009 at 3 p.m. ET. ESPNU is currently in 55 million homes in the U.S. |
| · SEC Weekly on ESPNU airing every Thursday at 4:30 ET will feature a recap of the entire tournament after its completion. |
| Streaming |
| · All matches leading up to the championship game will be streamed live on SECsports.com complete with broadcasters assigned and provided by XOS Digital. These live match feeds are available to the public for free and will remain on the website for later viewing. |
| Radio |
| · The championship game on Sunday, November 8 will air on SECsports.com and XM Satellite Radio with broadcaster Neil Price. XM channels are TBD. All Florida matches at the tournament can be heard with Adam Schick and Matthew Stubbington calling the action on www.GatorZone.com. |
Seedings, parings and schedule for the 2009 SEC Tournament can be found below.
| 2009 SEC Soccer Tournament Seeds: |
| No. 1 – Florida (14-4-2, 8-1-2 SEC) |
| No. 2 – LSU (12-4-3, 8-2-1 SEC) |
| No. 3 – Mississippi (13-4-2, 7-2-2 SEC) |
| No. 4 – South Carolina (15-3-1, 7-3-1 SEC) |
| No. 5 – Georgia (14-4-1, 7-4 SEC) |
| No. 6 – Auburn (9-7-3, 6-5 SEC) |
| No. 7 – Vanderbilt (11-7-1, 5-6 SEC) |
| No. 8 – Tennessee (8-8-3, 4-5-2 SEC) |
| Orange Beach Soccer Complex * Orange Beach, Ala. |
| Nov. 4 – Opening Round |
| Match 1 @ 1 p.m. (ET) – (2) LSU vs. (7) Vanderbilt |
| Match 2 @ 3:30 p.m. (ET) – (3) Mississippi vs. (6) Auburn |
| Match 3 @ 6:00 p.m. (ET) – (1) Florida vs. (8) Tennessee |
| Match 4 @ 8:30 p.m. (ET) – (4) South Carolina vs. (5) Georgia |
| Nov. 6 – Semifinal |
| Match 5 @ 6:00 p.m. (ET) –Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner |
| Match 6 @ 8:30 p.m. (ET) – Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner |
| Nov. 8 – Final |
| Match 7 @ 3 p.m. (ET) – Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner |
2009 SEC Soccer Tournament
Nov. 4-8 – Orange Beach Sportsplex – Orange Beach , Ala.
| 2009 SEC Soccer Tournament | |||
| Nov. 4-8 – Orange Beach Sportsplex – Orange Beach , Ala. | |||
| Wed., Nov. 4 | Fri., Nov. 6 | Sun., Nov. 8 | |
| #7 Vanderbilt | |||
| Match 1- 1 p.m. (ET) | |||
| #2 LSU | |||
| Match 5 - | |||
| #6 Auburn | SEMIFINAL 6 p.m. (ET) | ||
| Match 2- 3:30 p.m. (ET) | |||
| #3 Mississippi | |||
| Match 7 - | SEC Tournament | ||
| FINAL 3 p.m. (ET) | Champion | ||
| #8 Tennessee | Live on ESPNU | NCAA Automatic | |
| Match 3- 6 p.m. (ET) | Qualifier | ||
| #1 Florida | |||
| Match 6 - | |||
| #5 Georgia | SEMIFINAL 8:30 p.m. (ET) | ||
| Match 4- 8:30 p.m. (ET) | |||
| #4 South Carolina | |||
