BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Campbell will make its second-straight NCAA Championship appearance Thursday when the Big South Conference champion No.-24 Camels travel to Harrisonburg, Va., to face Colonial Athletic Association champ and 15th-ranked James Madison in a 7:00 p.m. kickoff at Sentara Park.  The winner of Thursday's match will travel to Charlottesville to face No.-1 Virginia Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
NCAA HISTORY: CAMPBELL - stands 0-2 all-time in NCAA Championship history. The Camels dropped a 2-0 decision in the 2007 first round at Furman.  Last year, CU fell 4-1 in the first round at NC State... JAMES MADISION - is making its 14th NCAA Championship appearance and coming off last year's trip to the quarterfinals after wins over High Point, North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
 
LAST TIME OUT: CAMPBELL - scored four times in the first half hour and went on to defeat High Point Sunday in the Big South final at Buies Creek.  Matt Lock (10th minute), Thibaut Jacquel (13th), Ian Rees (25th) and Jalen James (30th) gave the Camels a 4-0 lead and CU ran its unbeaten streak to 14 matches (13-0-1)... JAMES MADISON - defeated top-seeded and 20th-ranked UNCW 1-0 in double overtime in the CAA final Sunday at Wilmington, N.C. UNCW went a man down in the 26th minute, but neither team was able to score until Niclas Mohr ended the match in the 107th minute.
 
WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE:  Campbell is making a second-straight appearance in the NCAA Championship.  Last year at Raleigh, Alemu Mercer-Miko equalized in the 61st minute, but NC State went back in front just 8:15 later on a penalty kick on the way to a 4-1 victory at Dail Soccer Park.
 
BIG SOUTH TOURNEY HONORS:  Tournament MVP Ian Rees led a quartet of Camels named to the Big South Championship all-tournament team.  Rees extended his scoring streak to 4 matches in the 25th minute of the final.  Thibaut Jacquel, who scored the game winning goal in both the semifinal win over Presbyterian and Sunday's final, was also named to the team along with Jalen James, who also scored in both matches, and center back Gideon Betz, who organized a defense that allowed only one goal and eight shots on target in two contests.
 
CAMELS SWEEP BIG SOUTH INDIVIDUAL HONORS:  Campbell became the first Big South Conference team to sweep all five individual season awards since the player of the year honor was divided into attacking and defensive categories in 2011.  Dustin Fonder was named Coach of the Year, Thibaut Jacquel Attacking Player of the Year, Gideon Betz Defensive Player of the Year and Moses Mensah Freshman of the Year in voting by league head coaches.  In addition, Betz earned a second-straight Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in voting by league sports information contacts.
 
11 CAMELS EARN ALL-LEAGUE RECOGNITION:  Led by six first-team members, Campbell placed 11 on the 2019 Big South all-conference teams.  Forward Thibaut Jacquel and midfielder Ian Rees were joined by the starting back four - Gideon Betz, Bissafi Dotte, Moses Mensah and Franck Momo on the first team.  Midfielder Matt Lock and goalkeeper Samuel Lechuga were second-team choices, while midfielder Alemu Mercer-Miko was an honorable mention selection.  Fowards Jalen James and Adrian Morales joined Dotte and Mensah on the all-freshman team.
 
ON THE ROAD: The Camels stand 6-2-1 on the road this season and have won 6 times away from home in their current 14-match unbeaten streak... CU finished 4-0 on the road in league play with wins at Winthrop (3-1), Presbyterian (6-2), UNC Asheville (7-1) and High Point (2-1).
 
NATIONALLY-RANKED TEAM:  Campbell stands 24th in this week's United Soccer Coaches and Soccer America polls and No.-26 in the College Soccer News Top-30 poll... When the Camels entered the CSN poll at No.-30 on Nov. 4., it marked Campbell's first national ranking since the 2008 campaign... Campbell is 8th nationally in won-lost-tied percentage (.850) and is T3rd in total wins (16).
 
NATIONALLY-RANKED ATTACK:  As a team, the Camels rate 3rd in the nation in goals per game (2.8), total goals (56), assists (47) and points (159) and 10th in corners per game (6.7).  All of those marks are tops among Big South Conference teams.
 
NATIONALLY-RANKED DEFENSE: Campbell's defense ranks 12th in the nation in goals-against average (0.679) and T8th in shutouts (10)... CU has allowed only 14 goals this season... Senior Gideon Betz partners with three newcomers - freshmen Bissafi Dotte and Moses Mensah and sophomore Franck Momo - in the starting back four.... GK Samuel Lechuga leads the Big South and ranks T9th nationally in shutouts (9), while standing 17th in the country in goals-against average (0.701).
 
HOME, SWEET HOME: Campbell is undefeated (10-0-1), has outscored its opponents 34-3 at home and has not trailed in a match at the Eakes Complex this year.
 
SOUTH REGION RANKINGS (11/18/19): 1. Virginia (17-1-1), 2. Clemson (16-2-1), 3. Wake Forest (13-4-2), 4. Campbell (16-2-2), 5. Virginia Tech (9-5-3), 6. Pittsburgh (9-7-2), 7. NC State (9-6-3), 8. Louisville (8-7-2), 9. Boston College (9-5-3), 10. Syracuse (6-6-5).
 
JACQUEL AMONG COUNTRY'S TOP SCORERS:  With 17 goals in 19 matches, junior forward Thibaut Jacquel is tied for first among national goal scoring leaders.  Jacquel's 39 points are 3rd-most of any Division I player in the country, and he shares the national lead with 7 game-winning goals... He has at least one point in 11 of Campbell's last 14 matches with 5 multi-goal outings and 15 strikes total in the span. He tallied his first collegiate hat trick Oct. 12 at Presbyterian.
 
GREAT START:  Campbell's 16-2-2 record (.850) through 18 matches is the program's best since the 1988 squad finished 17-3 (.850) to set a school record for most victories in a year... Campbell's 14-match unbeaten streak (13-0-1) is the longest undefeated span in Campbell's 43 NCAA Division I  seasons (since 1977) and the program's best since the 1971 team opened 14-0-1.  The 2008 squad reeled off 12-straight victories to reach the A-Sun final.
 
BIG SOUTH NUMBERS:  The Camels out-scored their eight Big South regular season opponents by a 33-6 margin and averaged 4.12 goals while allowing 0.75 per outing in league play... In Big South regular season play, three of the top four goal scorers (1. Thibaut Jacquel - 8, T2. Alex Egeonu - 6, T4. Eren Elbustu - 4) wore the Orange & Black... In addition to Jacquel topping the league in overall goals, points and game-winners, Matt Lock is 5th in points (15), while Elbustu is 6th (14) and Egeonu T7th (13)... Lock is 2nd among Big South assists leaders (7), Alemu Mercer-Miko and Jacquel are T6th (5), while Ian Rees and Franck Momo are T9th (4)... Over their last six league outings, the Camels posted a 30-5 goal differential and won those contests by 2-, 4-, 4-, 6-, 8- and 1-goal margins.
 
PLAYING IN FRONT: Campbell has not trailed in its last 765 minutes of action - a span of more than eight complete matches.  The last time the Camels fell behind their opponent was in the 15th minute at Winthrop on Oct. 9.  Thibaut Jacquel equalized in the 65th, then Alex Egeonu (78) and Dylan Sadler (81) added goals in a 3-1 victory.  Since that night, the Camels have not trailed in seven matches - at Presbyterian (6-2), Gardner-Webb (4-0), at UNC Asheville (7-1), vs. North Carolina (1-1), vs. Longwood (8-0), at High Point (2-1), vs. Presbyterian (3-0) and vs. High Point (4-1).
 
BETZ AND REES ON ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM:  Seniors Gideon Betz and Ian Rees were named to the Academic All-District 3 first team by the College Sports Information Directors of America. The duo will be on the Academic All-America ballot.  A 2018 Academic All-America first-team member, Betz graduated with a 3.79 GPA as a business administration major and owns a 3.89 GPA while pursuing his MBA. Rees holds a 3.89 GPA as a sport management major.
 
BETZ SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST:  Gideon Betz is one of 10 finalists nationally for the Senior CLASS Award. He was named preseason Big South defensive player of the year and 2018 1st-team Academic All-American.
 
JAMES MADISION PREVIEW: JMU is ranked No.-15 in this week's Soccer America poll after claiming the CAA title... Led by CAA player of the year Manuel Ferriol, James Madison is making its second-straight NCAA appearance.  The Dukes finished second in the Colonial Athletic Association standings (4-2-1), and advanced past Hofstra in penalties in the CAA semifinals... Campbell and JMU had two common opponents during the year.  JMU won 1-0 at Big South member Longwood Sept. 24 and fell at home during the regular season to UNCW 1-0 in overtime.  Campbell defeated UNCW 2-0 in Buies Creek on Sept. 25 and defeated Longwood 8-0 on Oct. 28... Ferriol leads the Dukes with 16 goals and 6 assists (38 points).  He was joined on the CAA first team by midfielder Fernando Casero, defender Thomas Judge and keeper TJ Bush...  JMU owns a 1-0 victory over Wake Forest (9/17) this season and fell 1-0 at No.-1 Virginia (10/15)... The Dukes score an average of 1.75 goals, while surrendering 0.95 per outing...
 
JMU SERIES HISTORY:  Thursday's contest will be just the third all-time between the Camels and Dukes in men's soccer... Campbell defeated JMU 4-3 on Sept. 14, 1973 at Wilmington, N.C.... Twenty years later, then fifth-ranked James Madison dealt Campbell a 3-1 setback on Oct. 16, 1993 after the Camels got off to a 12-1 start that season...
 
CAMELS IN THE BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Campbell won the first two Big South Conference tournament championships in 1984 and 1985, and also won back-to-back crowns in 1991 and 1992 before claiming the 2018 and 2019 titles.  CU was runner-up in 1986, 1989 and 1993 before leaving for a 17-year stint in the Atlantic Sun.  Overall, the Camels are 22-11-4 in Big South Championship play, including a 5-4-3 mark since re-joining the league in 2011.  Campbell is 6-3 all-time in Big South finals, 1-1 in Big South title games played in Buies Creek.  Before its 2018 run to the Big South crown, CU last reached a conference final in 2008 (losing 4-3 to Jacksonville in Buies Creek) while a member of the A-Sun and its previous league tournament title came in 2007 over Jacksonville (1-1 draw, 5-4 PKs) at DeLand, Fla.
 
CAMELLANEOUS: 13 different players have scored for the Camels... Samuel Lechuga has played all but 59 minutes in the CU nets... Among field players, center backs Gideon Betz (1774) and Bissafi Dotte (1758) lead the team... CU went 6-1-1 in the month of September and 7-0-1 in October... Three Camels (Lechuga, Dotte, Betz) have started all 19 matches... Campbell is 2-0-2 in extra time this season with wins over Radford (2-1) and USC Upstate (1-0) and draws with Central Arkansas (1-1) and North Carolina (1-1).
 
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: Campbell's 8-0 goal outburst Oct. 28 vs. Longwood marked Campbell's most goals scored in a game since Nov. 10, 1986 in a 9-0 victory over Augusta in the quarterfinals of the Big South tournament at Buies Creek.  The 8-goal outing marked CU's 3rd-highest offensive production ever in a Big South regular season contest after an 11-0 win over Armstrong State on Oct. 27, 1986 and a 9-1 win over Augusta on Oct. 4 of that same year.  From the start of the 1987 season until Oct. 28, Campbell had scored seven goals in a game 13 times, most recently Oct. 19 at UNC Asheville.
 
CAMELS VS. NATIONALLY RANKED TEAMS: Following a 1-1 draw on Oct. 22 with No.-21 North Carolina, Campbell stands 0-5-3 against nationally-ranked teams in 5 seasons under Dustin Fonder.  CU drew with 12th-ranked High Point on Oct. 24, 2018 and also against the 13th-ranked Panthers on Nov. 7 (before advancing on PKs) in the 2018 Big South semifinals. CU's last win over a nationally-ranked foe was a 2-1 victory over #25 High Point (then coached by Dustin Fonder) on Oct. 17, 2012 in Buies Creek.
 
HEAD COACH DUSTIN FONDER (Roanoke, '06) is in his fifth season at Campbell (49-38-8 overall, 24-15-2 Big South).  His overall head coaching record stands at 126-101-26, including a 78-63-18 mark in eight seasons at High Point.  Fonder guided the 2018 Camels to their first conference tournament title and NCAA College Cup berth since 2007.  He was named Big South Coach of the Year after leading the Camels to the program's first league regular season title since 2009... Also named Big South Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2010 while at High Point.