After what the team thought was a disappointing ending to the 2008 season, the St. Ambrose men's soccer team will have a chance to rewrite the conclusion. The Bees earned one of just five at-large bids into the 2008 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship, and will now host an opening round match.

St. Ambrose will play Dana (Neb.) at Muscatine High School at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22 in a first round match.

The winners of the 15 opening round games, as well as host school Fresno Pacific (Calif.), will advance to the 50th Annual Men's Soccer National Championship final site from Dec. 1-6 in Fresno, Calif.

The Bees thought their season was over following a 1-0 loss at Grand View in the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament championship game last week. With three seconds left in that contest, SAU had an apparent game-tying goal waived off after a player was ruled offsides, giving Grand View the MCC's automatic berth.

But now the Bees will join the Vikings in the national tournament field.

For St. Ambrose this will be the team's first apperance in the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship. SAU finished the year with an overall record of 14-5-1 and took second in the MCC behind Grand View with a 7-1 mark. The Bees went 13-2-1 over their final 16 games, with the only two losses coming to Grand View.

Dana College will also be making its first appearance in the national tournament. The Vikings are 14-3-3 overall and finished fourth in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Dana earned the GPAC's second automatic berth by reaching the finals of the conference tournament, where the Vikings fell 2-1 to Hastings.

More information on the 2008 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship, including the complete bracket, is available on the NAIA website.