Tulsa Men’s Soccer to Face Four NCAA Tournament Teams; Three Top-20 Programs in 2022

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The Tulsa men's soccer team will face four 2021 NCAA Tournament teams, including Kentucky, FIU, Missouri State and Charlotte, during the 2022 campaign, as announced today by head coach Tom McIntosh.

"We are looking forward to competing against top competition in both parts of our season," McIntosh said. "Our non-conference schedule features highly ranked teams from 2021 in Kentucky and Missouri State, two of the top teams in the Summit League (Kansas City and Oral Roberts), and teams from the Big East (Marquette) and Big 10 (Wisconsin) which are two of the top leagues in the country. We are excited to compete against four new teams in The American with the additions of Charlotte, FAU, FIU and UAB, and we look forward to the weekly challenge of conference play as the American Athletic Conference will be one of the top conferences in the country this season."

The 2022 campaign marks the 43^rd season for men's soccer at Tulsa and 28^th with McIntosh at the helm.

The Golden Hurricane is coming off a 16-win season that included an American Athletic Conference regular season and tournament title and an NCAA Tournament Third Round appearance. TU concluded the year ranked 10^th in both the College Soccer News and United Soccer Coaches polls and 11^th in the Top Drawer Soccer poll.

Fifteen players scored a goal for Tulsa last year, including a team-high 12 by returning two-time American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year Alex Meinhard. The Golden Hurricane also recorded a league-best nine shutouts and returns Goalkeeper and Rookie of the Year Alex Lopez, Defensive Player of the Year Mariano Fazio and Midfielder of the Year Henry Sach. Lopez was also named the Top Drawer Soccer Freshman of the Year, while Fazio picked up United Soccer Coaches All-American third team honors last season.

Tulsa will begin the season with a pair of road games at Marquette (Aug. 25) and at Wisconsin (Aug. 28), two teams that earned seven wins last year. TU picked up a 1-0 win over then ninth-ranked Marquette in Tulsa last year to tie the all-time series, 1-1, while the Golden Hurricane opened the 2017 season with a 2-2 tie with the Badgers, which maintain a 4-3-1 edge in the series over the Hurricane.

TU returns home to host three teams in 10 days, including Kansas City (Sept. 2), Oral Roberts (Sept. 5) and Kentucky (Sept. 11). The Wildcats recorded 15 wins, claimed the Conference USA tournament title, advanced to the NCAA Tournament Third Round and finished the season ranked as high as No. 9 by Top Drawer Soccer. UK has a 7-6-2 edge in the series over TU.

The Golden Eagles had 11 wins last year and fell just short of the Summit League tournament title after tying Denver in the championship, 1-1, but falling behind in the shootout, 3-2. Tulsa maintains a 23-2-1 lead in the series over ORU.

The Roos, which are led by two-time All-American, MAC Hermann Trophy finalist, 2004 Soccer America National Player of the Year and Tulsa Hall of Famer Ryan Pore, had just three wins last season. TU has a 12-1-2 lead in the series with Kansas City.

The nine-game American Athletic Conference slate begins with newcomer FIU (Sept. 16). The Golden Panthers recorded 12 wins, captured the Conference USA regular season title, advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round and finished the season ranked as high as No. 18 by the United Soccer Coaches a year ago. TU maintains an 11-0-1 advantage in the series over FIU.

Tulsa takes on Missouri State (Sept. 20) in their last non-conference regular season game. The Bears tallied 17 wins, including a perfect 10-0 mark to claim both the regular season and tournament Missouri Valley Conference titles, advanced to the NCAA Tournament First Round and finished the year ranked as high as No. 16 by Top Drawer Soccer. Tulsa has a 29-13-3 lead in the all-time series, including a 3-0 win last season when the Bears were ranked No. 8 in the country.

Up next, TU will take on the other three incoming American Athletic Conference teams, including Charlotte (Sept. 25), UAB (Sept. 30) and FAU (Oct. 5). The 49ers posted 10 wins last season and played in the NCAA Tournament First Round, while the Owls had nine wins and the Blazers recorded two victories. The Golden Hurricane owns an 11-3-1 lead in the series over UAB and a 1-0 mark over FAU, while the series with Charlotte is tied, 1-1.

Tulsa will travel to South Florida (Oct. 9), Temple (Oct. 22) and SMU (Nov. 2), while hosting Memphis (Oct. 15) and UCF (Oct. 28) in the remaining conference slate. The Knights had nine victories last season, while the Mustangs had eight wins, the Bulls and Tigers both six victories, and the Owls just two wins. The Hurricane has a 14-6-3 lead over UCF, an 11-6-3 advantage against Memphis and a 4-3-4 edge over Temple, while SMU has a 32-14-5 lead over TU and South Florida has a 7-4-3 advantage against Tulsa.

The American Athletic Conference Championship will be hosted on Nov. 6, Nov. 10 and Nov. 13 at locations to be determined.

Tulsa Men’s Soccer to Face Four NCAA Tournament Teams; Three Top-20 Programs in 2022

Players Mentioned

Mariano Fazio

Alex Lopez

Alex Meinhard

Henry Sach

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