Carson-Newman, Catawba Earn Bids To NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament
INDIANAPOLIS - The Carson-Newman women's soccer team will host first and second round games as the second seed in the Southeast Region of this week's NCAA Tournament. The Lady Eagles will face the winner of Friday night's UNC Pembroke/Pfeiffer match on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. on McCown Field in Jefferson City.
C-N (15-4-1) swept the 2008 South Atlantic Conference titles, picking up the regular-season title by a half-game over Catawba. The Lady Eagles also won the SAC Tournament, beating Catawba on Sunday in penalty kicks.
Carson-Newman has not faced third-seeded UNC Pembroke, but did beat Pfeiffer 2-0 in early September.
On the opposite side of the Southeast Region bracket is host and top-seed Columbus State (19-3-1). The Cougars will face the winner of Friday's Georgia College/Catawba match.
With a win Sunday, C-N would advance to the Southeast Regional Final, to be played Friday, November 21.
The Lady Eagles are making their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, piling up a 7-5 tournament record in the last five years. C-N advanced to the national semifinals in both 2004 and 2005.
The Catawba College women's soccer team received an at-large bid to the 2008 NCAA Division II Tournament. The 48-team field was announced on Monday and the Lady Indians were one of the six school named to the Southeast Region field. Catawba (15-4-2), seeded-fifth, will face Peach Belt Athletic Conference member Georgia College and State University (13-2-4), who earned the #4-seed, in a first round match-up on Friday, November 14 at 7 p.m. at Columbus State University in Columbus, GA. The winner will face top-seeded Columbus State on Sunday afternoon.
Catawba returns to regional play for the first time since 2005 and is making its fifth over trip to the regional playoffs. The Lady Indians fell to Carson-Newman in the regional final in both 2004 and 2005. Catawba had been denied a bid the previous two seasons after failing to earn an automatic bid with tournament championship loses in penalty kick shootouts. Georgia C&SU will be making their first trip to the NCAA playoffs. GC&SU fell to UNC Pembroke in the PBAC semifinals, while Catawba tied its SAC tournament final against Carson-Newman, losing a penalty kick shootout for a third straight year. It will be the first meeting of the schools in women's soccer.
Columbus State (19-3-1) claimed the top seed and won the PBAC Championship and tournament title. The other side of the regional bracket, hosted by second-seeded Carson-Newman (15-4-1), will see sixth-seeded Pfeiffer (14-8), winner of the Conference Carolinas Tournament, facing PBAC runner-up UNC Pembroke (18-2-1). Like the Columbus bracket, the first round will be played on Friday night with the winners facing Carson-Newman on Sunday.
Columbus State is making its third straight trip to the NCAA's. UNC Pembroke is a first-time participant as is Pfeiffer. The two finalists in each region will advance to the third- and quarterfinal-round competition to be played Friday, November 21 and Sunday, November 23.
The national semifinals and finals are December 5 and 7 in Tampa, Fla.
NCAA Women's Division II Soccer Tournament
Southeast Region - at Jefferson City, Tenn.
Friday, November 14, 2008
7 p.m. - No.6 Pfeiffer vs No. 3 UNC Pembroke
Sunday, November 16, 2008
No.6 Pfeiffer/No. 3 UNC Pembroke winner at No. 2 Carson-Newman