Nov. 9, 2004

The Florida Atlantic University men's soccer team will head to the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament in Macon, Georgia later this week to try and add an NCAA Tournament berth to their Atlantic Sun Conference regular season co-champions title.

As the second seed in the tournament behind UCF, the Owls have a first round bye which means they will only have to win twice to claim the A-Sun champion's automatic NCAA Tournament spot.

The opening round of the tournament will begin Thursday evening with #4 Georgia State facing #5 Belmont at 4 p.m. followed by #3 Mercer taking on #6 Stetson at 7 p.m. FAU will take on the winner of the Mercer/Stetson match on Friday night at 7 p.m. with the championship game scheduled for Saturday night at 7 p.m.

The Owls were also the #2 seed in last year's tournament when they defeated Stetson 4-1 in the semifinals before falling 3-1 to top-seeded UCF in the championship game. FAU has played in three championship games and have lost each time.

Senior forward Bjorn Totland comes into the tournament on a goal-scoring tear. He scored four of the Owls' five goals last week, including a hat trick in 10 minutes in the 4-1 defeat of Adelphi on Sunday, and has scored 10 times in his last seven games. Currently leading the team in goals (13) and points (29), Totland, who scored twice in last year's A-Sun semifinal, is also tied for the conference lead in goals with Jacksonville's Tommy Krizanovic.