May 10, 2006

Boca Raton, FL - Florida Atlantic University's men's soccer team has been accepted into the Atlantic Soccer Conference starting with the 2006 seasons, announced Craig Angelos, FAU Athletics Director.

The 2006 season will be a conference transition year for 14 FAU athletic programs. The men's and women's swim teams competed in their second Sun Belt Conference Championships with the women's team running away with the title. Football began competition in the Sun Belt in '05 as well. All remaining teams, with the exception of men's soccer are on track to move from the Atlantic Sun to the Sun Belt Conference in the fall of 2006. The Sun Belt does not sponsor men's soccer and does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA men's soccer championship, with this in mind the team will join the Atlantic Soccer Conference, which does have an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

"As we continue to grow this athletic department, conference alignment is extremely important," Angelos said. "Football and Swimming moved into the Sun Belt Conference two years ago, 14 teams will move into the SBC this season. Football will be a part of the BCS series and all sports sponsored by the Sun Belt have an automatic bid to NCAA postseason. A home with a similar opportunity was important and that is why this fit with the Atlantic Soccer Conference works well."

The men's soccer team, which began play in 1981, gained national attention as a NCAA Division II team and made the successful transition to Division I in 1993-94. Since that time FAU has consistently fought for an Atlantic Sun Conference title. The Owls have played in seven of the last 10 A-Sun Championships.

"We are fortunate to have found a conference for our team and we are very appreciative of the Atlantic Soccer Conference to have consider us and accept us as soon as they did," said FAU head coach Kos Donev. "With the help of our athletic director Craig Angelos, we were able to secure a home. It is a well respected soccer conference and we believe that we can step in and compete for the title."

Current members of the Atlantic Soccer conference include: Adelphi, Howard, Hartwick, Longwood, Philadelphia and New Jersey Institute of Technology. The Owls finished the 2005 season with a 7-8 record, 4-2 in A-Sun play, and advanced to the semi-final match at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships.