|
|
NCAA women North Carolina, Penn State, Portland, UCLA are top seeds in NCAA tournament.INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, November 7, 2005) -- North Carolina is the top overall seed amonng the field of 64 schools picked for the 24th Annual NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, it was announced today. Selected by the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Committee, the top 16 teams are seeded and conference teams cannot play each other in the first round; however, games between members of the same conference are permitted in the second round. When pairing teams, the committee is restricted by geographic proximity. Sites are selected for the first and second rounds to create the least number of flights; therefore, only 10 of the top 16 seeds will be hosting first- and second-round competition. The four No. 1 seeds include the North Carolina, Penn State, UCLA and the Portland. First-round matches will be played Friday and second-round matches will be played Sunday, all at campus sites. The two first-round contests hosted by the University of Utah will be played Thursday with the second-round game competed Saturday. Third-round games will be played November 18-20 on campus sites, as will quarterfinal matches November 25-27 The Women's College Cup national semifinals and title match will be played December 2 and 4 at Aggie Soccer Stadium in College Station, Tex. Texas A&M is hosting the event for the first time. North Carolina, ranked No. 2 in the SoccerTimes.com College Coaches poll, is the Atlantic Coast Conference champion and will host Southern Conference champion Western Carolina Friday in the first round. "We feel fortunate to be one of the four No. 1 seeds in the tournament and to be designated as a host school for first- and second-round games," UNC coach Anson Dorrance said. "We look forward to playing the Southern Conference champion on Friday." No. 3 Penn State, an at-large selection from the Big Ten and the second overall seed, will host Bucknell, the Patriot League winner, in its first-round game. "We’re very pleased with our selection and obviously very excited to begin NCAA play," said Penn State coach Paula Wilkins. "The players are looking forward to beginning this new season. Friday’s match with Bucknell should be a good one." Top-ranked Portland, the West Coast Conference champion which is seeded third, will travel to Lincoln, Neb., for a match against Iowa State, an at-large bid from the Big 12. No. 4 UCLA, the Pac-10 titlist and fourth overall seed, will host Mississippi Valley State University, which garnered the first ever appearance in the tournament as the champ of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. "We greatly appreciate our seeding," said UCLA head coach Jillian Ellis, who has led three Bruin teams to the NCAA College Cup final four in 2000, 2003 and 2004. "We tried to play a competitive schedule throughout the year and I feel like the NCAA tournament committee recognized that. We're also extremely excited to be able to stay at home and face a team we've never played before. The committee did a good job of mixing things up in that respect and our players can't wait for the tournament to get underway." North Carolina and 12th-ranked Connecticut are the only two teams who have been invited to the tournament every year since its inception in 1982. North Carolina has captured the NCAA title 17 times. In the 2004 championship game, Notre Dame defeated UCLA in penalty kicks 4-3 after a 1-1 tie through regulation and two overtime periods. The No. 2 seeds include No. 5 Notre Dame, sixth-ranked Virginia, seventh-ranked Florida State University and No. 10 Santa Clara. Capturing No. 3 seeds are eighth-ranked California, Connecticut, No. 9 Duke University and 19th-ranked California State-Fullerton. No. 17 Brigham Young, 14th-ranked Pepperdine, No. 13 Marquette University and 11th-ranked Texas A&M are the No. 4 seeds, completing the top 16 seeded teams. The Atlantic Coast leads all conferences with seven teams in the tournament: North Carolina, seventh-seeded Virginia, 11th-seeded Florida State, 12th-seeded Duke, No. 16 Boston College, No. 25 Wake Forest and Clemson. Five teams will represent the Big 12, the Big Ten and the Pac-10. From the Big 10 are Penn State, Illinois, Purdue, Michigan State and Wisconsin. Texas A&M, No. 24 Colorado, Iowa State, Nebraska and Texas represent the Big 12. From the Pac-10 are UCLA, No. 8 California, No. 20 Southern California, 22nd-ranked Stanford and Arizona. Four teams will represent the West Coast Conference (Portland, Santa Clara, Pepperdine and 12th-ranked Gonzaga), the Big East (champion Notre Dame, Connecticut, Marquette and No. 21 West Virginia) and the Southeastern Conference (No. 15 Tennessee, the league champ, Florida, Mississippi and Vanderbilt). Thirty conferences were granted automatic bids for the 2005 championship. The remaining 34 teams were selected at-large. Eleven schools are making their first appearance in the tournament: Florida Atlantic, Mississippi Valley, Western Carolina, Hofstra, Valparaiso, Samford, Texas-El Paso, Gonzaga, Iowa State, California- Riverside, and Saint Louis. The automatic qualifying conferences and their representatives: America East - Boston University.
|
