Ben Jackson is one of the few players that was a member of the Ohio Northern's first ever trip to the NCAA men's soccer tournament in 2006.

Now, the Southern Cayuga graduate is a member of the first team in the Polar Bears' (19-5-1) school history to have made it to the Sweet 16. The team that stands in their way of advancing is No. 4-ranked Hobart (18-0-3). The two will square off in Iowa, today.

The Polar Bears have been studying their film and making preparations for the Statesman. Jackson a senior defender is doing his own form of preparing.

“I've been looking over their tendencies,” Jackson said. “Studying how they tend to attack and how they might counter attack on us.”

Jackson choose Ohio Northern to study civil engineering, but also to play soccer. He played for Southern Cayuga for four years and also played on traveling teams.

“He grew up with soccer,” Ben's mother Cheryl Jackson said. “The soccer program was part of the reason, but the education program also influenced his decision (to attend Ohio Northern).”

After playing forward for the Chiefs, the Polar Bears decided to switch him to defense. He's played four years there and started 86 of the 87 games he played in.

Jackson's consistent play has earned him an All-Ohio Athletic Conference Honorable Mention for the past three years.

“It feels nice to know I'm respected by my peers in this year,” Ben said.

His play helped the Polar Bears shut out 12 teams on the year. They started the season off with seven straight wins against a very strong nonconference schedule to earn the No. 23 ranking in the nation.

Their third place finish in their conference earned them a chance to win their tournament in the OAC playoffs. Ohio Northern was able to defeat Marietta 3-0 to secure the team an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

“We're just happy to be here,” Ben said.

As a captain of the Polar Bears, he is using his experience and leadership from the first trip to the tournament as an educational tool for this year.

“Two years ago, it was kind of a consolation thing,” he said. “We were the first team to get where we were in school history. So we were just kind of happy to be there, but this year we expect to win.”

Now that the Polar Bears have been to the tournament before they know what kind of preparation to do.

If Ohio Northern can upset the unbeaten Statesman they will have to await two weeks to face their next obstacle in Raleigh, North Carolina.