Colgate (9-5-5) at USF (12-5-2)When: Friday 7:30 p.m.Where: USF Soccer StadiumTV/Radio: None

Friday will mark the third time the men’s soccer team has hosted an NCAA tournament game at USF soccer stadium as they host the Colgate University Raiders.

Colgate comes into the match having won its conference tournament and boasts a record of 9-5-5 for the season. The Raiders are the only representatives of the Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament.

The Raiders are neither high-scoring nor lenient on defense. They’ve outscored their opponents 18-16 on the season and have held on to nine shutouts.

The Bulls are coming off a much-needed period of rest and are feeling good about where they stand in the tournament.

“Every team in the tournament is a good team,” coach George Kiefer said. “The big thing for us is to stay focused, have good training sessions and get into a good rhythm leading up to the match.”

For seven Bulls, this is not their first trip to the NCAA tournament. The core of USF’s experienced players went down this road in 2005 when the team went 1-0-1 in the tournament, losing in the second round to Virginia on penalty kicks (7-6).

“The 2005 season was good experience for us,” junior forward Jordan Seabrook said. “It just let us get a taste of what we can do. The guys who were there remember (elimination) and how bad of a feeling it was, and how we could have taken that game?and really made a lot of noise in that tournament.”

The Bulls hosted their first-round game in 2005 and beat Stetson 3-0. For similar results this time around, USF will have to improve on their last performance, a 2-0 loss to Connecticut in the Big East championship.

“That UConn game is long gone,” Kiefer said. “We learned a lot from it and we feel good about what we learned.”

Friday’s match marks the first time that the Raiders and Bulls have played each other. USF played Colgate’s league mate American University earlier this year and pounded the Eagles 6-0. In their match against American on Nov. 4, the Raiders came away with a draw against the Eagles.

When firing on all cylinders, the Bulls’ attack is fast-paced. They move the ball effectively using accurate passing and the speed and agility of their forwards to create opportunities, especially when playing at home.

In its history, USF is 6-9-2 in NCAA tournament play. The best a Bulls team has ever done was in 1997 when they reached the quarterfinals. Only five of the previous 11 USF teams to make the tournament have advanced past the first round.