SPORTS BRIEF: Crimson qualifies for NCAA tournament, to play at UMass on Saturday

The Harvard men’s soccer team’s season is not over after all.

Despite Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Penn, the Crimson will take the field Saturday at noon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against the University of Massachusetts (10-7-3).

Harvard (11-5, 5-2 Ivy) ended the season in third place in the Ivy League, but received an at-large selection and will join the field of 48 for the third year in a row.

The Crimson’s tournament bid was short-lived a year ago, as Harvard was upset by Central Connecticut State in the opening round.

Two years ago, the Crimson received an automatic bid as the Ivy champions and defeated Binghamton 2-1, before going down 3-0 to eventual runners-up UCLA in the second round.

In Amherst on Saturday, Harvard will face a team that reached the Final Four just 12 months ago. This year, the Minutemen were the Atlantic-10 regular-season champions. However, like the Crimson, Massachusetts needed an at-large bid after losing 1-0 to Dayton in the A-10 Conference Championship game.

The last meeting between the two teams took place last September, and resulted in a 2-1 Harvard win.

The winner of Saturday’s matchup will play at South Florida on Tuesday night.