BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Atlantic Sun Conference champion Campbell University will travel to Greenville, S.C., to face Furman Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Division I men’s soccer championship.

Campbell (13-5-3) won its first A-Sun title and claimed the program’s first berth in the NCAA event since the Fighting Camels joined the Division I ranks in 1977.  The 22nd-ranked Paladins (18-3-0) won the Southern Conference championship.

“I’m excited for the team, for the program, for all the alumni that played here.  The outpouring of phone calls, emails and text messages I’ve received over the last several days is amazing,” said sixth-year Camel head coach Doug Hess.  “I am looking forward to our game with Furman.  They’ve been a solid program through the last several years and I have huge respect for (coach) Doug Allison and the program he runs.”

No. 2 seed Wake Forest (17-2-2) will host the winner of Saturday’s Campbell/Furman match on Nov. 28 at 7:00 p.m.

The top 16 seeds in the 48-school field receive first round byes.  The final four teams will meet in the Men’s College Cup December 14-16 at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

“Obviously, I’m really excited,” said senior captain Michael Hutchison, who is the only Camel to play every minute of every match this year.  “To me, it’s really a culmination of all our hard work over four years.  It’s just good to get to the NCAAs after being so close the last few years, and is great to close out my career with a trip to the national tournament.”

The Fighting Camels became the lowest-seeded (third) team to win the A-Sun Championship tournament since the league moved to a six-team format seven years ago.  The pre-season A-Sun favorite, Campbell won three games in four days to earn its first A-Sun tourney title.

Campbell defeated sixth-seeded Gardner-Webb 6-1 last Wednesday, then knocked host and second-seeded Stetson 2-0 on Thursday.  Campbell and top-seeded Jacksonville played to a 1-1 draw through regulation and two overtimes on Saturday.  CU then claimed the league title and advanced to the NCAAs by winning the penalty kick shootout 5-4.

The conference tournament title was Campbell’s fifth as a Division I member and first since the Camels won the 1992 Big South crown.

Over the past three years, the Fighting Camels own a 36-18-6 (.650) overall record, including a 16-4-4 mark in A-Sun regular season play.  Campbell is also 3-3-0 vs. nationally-ranked opponents in the same span, including a 2-1 loss on Sept. 19 at then-No. 3 Virginia.

In addition, the Camels stand 9-2-3 away from home this year, including a 7-2-2 mark on opponents’ home fields.  Since its last road loss on Oct. 13 at Lipscomb, Campbell is 6-1-2 overall and unbeaten (3-0-1) in its last four games.

Campbell also set a school record by playing seven overtime matches in 2007 and posted a 4-0-3 record in those contests.

Of Campbell’s 21 matches this season, 19 were decided by a single goal or ended in a draw.  Six different Campbell players recorded game-winning goals.

The Camels ended the regular season ranked seventh in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America South Region poll.

Five Camels were named to the A-Sun All-Conference Teams.  Josue Soto was named A-Sun Freshman of the Year, first-team all-conference and to the all-freshman squad.  The midfielder from Monterrey, Mexico has posted 22 points on eight goals and six assists while starting all 21 games.

Junior midfielder Richard Jata was named to the A-Sun all-conference first team for the second-straight year.  The Furman transfer from Port Richey, Fla., also has produced 22 points on nine goals and four assists.  In games when Jata has scored for the Camels since joining the program in 2006, the team owns a 12-0-1 record.  His second-half free kick was the equalizer against Jacksonville and sent the game into overtime.  Jata also scored twice in the A-Sun first round against Gardner-Webb.

The 2007 pre-season A-Sun player of the year, Jata led Furman in scoring with four goals and three assists over 17 games as a freshman in 2004.

Campbell center back tandem of Hutchison and junior Stephen Oyuga both earned all-conference honors.  A senior from Virginia Beach, Va., Hutchison is the lone Camel to play all 1798 minutes this season.  He has started 67 of CU’s last 70 matches and earned second-team all-conference recognition.

A junior from Nairobi, Kenya, Oyuga was a first-team all-conference pick.  He has helped lead the Camels to the second-best team goals-against average (.14) in the A-Sun.

Junior keeper Aaron Johnson was named to the all-conference squad for the third-straight year and earned first-team honors for the second year running.  He produced a 1.05 goals-against average, second-best in the league and four shutouts, including his 12th career blanking at Stetson in the league semifinal.

Hutchison, Jata, Johnson and Oyuga were joined on the A-Sun all-tournament team by the tourney MVP Vince Petrasso.  A sophomore forward from Woodbridge, Ontario, Petrasso scored CU’s first two goals vs. Gardner-Webb last Wednesday, notched the winner against Stetson one day later; then struck the decisive penalty Saturday to lift the team to the title.

Through 21 games, Furman has outscored its opponents by a 50-12 margin.  The Paladins defeated UNC Greensboro 1-0 in Sunday’s SoCon final to win the league tourney title for the first time since 2001 and gain the program’s seventh NCAA appearance.

Paladin keeper Bryan Amos was named MVP of the SoCon tournament after registering his ninth shutout of the year in the championship match.  He owns a 0.65 goals-against average.  Two of Furman’s three losses have come in overtime – at No. 22 Washington and first Belmont.  The other setback was a 2-1 loss in regulation at Clemson.

Furman senior defender Jon Leathers was named the SoCon player of the year for the second-consecutive season.

Offensively, Furman is led by SoCon Freshman of the Year Haris Cekic (9 goals, 2 assists), Brooks Duff (7G, 4A) and Eric Baffour (8G, 1A).  Patrick Murray has dealt 13 assists, while Shea Salinas has set up seven goals and scored five of his own.