A record-tying eight Southeastern Conference soccer teams are among the 64 that will compete for the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship. It ties the league record set in 2011 and marks the sixth time in the last seven seasons that at least six SEC teams have received postseason bids.
Four of the SEC’s teams are national seeds with Texas A&M earning a #1 seed, Florida a #2 seed and Kentucky and South Carolina earning #3 seeds. Joining them in the field are Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia and Missouri.
Four of the eight teams earned the right to host their opening round match on their home pitch. Florida will host Mercer while SIUE will visit Kentucky, Clemson travels to South Carolina and Houston Baptist goes to Texas A&M.
Georgia will travel to Orlando, Fla., to meet UCF in its first round matchup. Meanwhile, Arkansas goes to Norman, Okla., to go against Oklahoma, Auburn will travel to Ft. Myers, Fla., to play Florida Gulf Coast, Missouri revisits an old rival when it takes on Kansas in Lawrence, Kan.
Highlighted by four Top-4 national seeds, the Atlantic Coast Conference placed six teams in the 2014 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship field.
ACC Champion Florida State (18-1-1) was awarded a #1 national seed to mark the fourth straight year the Seminoles have earned a #1 seed (fifth overall). ACC regular season co-champion North Carolina (12-3-2) and the 2014 ACC Championship runner-up Virginia (18-2-0) were given #2 national seeds, and Notre Dame (12-5-2) was tabbed a #4 seed. All four national seeded teams will host first round games on either Nov. 14, 15 or 16.
Clemson (13-3-2) and Virginia Tech (14-5-0) join those four in the field of 64 to mark the 16th straight year that at least six ACC teams have been selected to the tournament field.
North Carolina will be seeking its 22nd NCAA Championship and 23rd national title overall. The Tar Heels are the only Division I program that has earned a spot in the NCAA Championship each of the 33 years since its inception in 1982 and owns a 118-9-3 record in the event.
Several other ACC teams will extend notable streaks with this year’s NCAA appearances. Notre Dame will play in its 22nd NCAA Tournament and is in search of its fourth title. Virginia is in the field for the 21st straight year and 27th overall. Florida State has been part of the tournament every year since 2000 (15 straight appearances), and has reached the College Cup seven times during that run, including each of the past three seasons. Fresh off its first College Cup berth last season, Virginia Tech is in the tournament for the seventh straight year (eighth overall), while Clemson is among the field of 64 for the first time since the 2007 season and 15th time overall.
First-round matches will be played at campus sites Nov. 14, 15 or 16. First-round matches include Florida State hosting Sun Belt Champion South Alabama (19-2-1), North Carolina hosting Summit League Champion South Dakota State (10-7-2), Virginia hosting Big South Champion High Point (12-4-4), Virginia Tech hosting A-10 Champion Dayton (12-8-2) and Notre Dame hosting Horizon League Champion Valparaiso (14-1-4). Clemson will travel to Columbia, S.C., for its first-round match against South Carolina (13-5-3). The Tigers defeated the Gamecocks earlier this season, 1-0, on Sept. 5.
Second round matches will be played Friday, Nov. 21, at campus sites, and third-round matches will be played Sunday, Nov. 23, at the same campus sites. Quarterfinal matches will be played Nov. 28 and 29, also on campus sites.
The 33rd annual NCAA Women’s College Cup will be played Dec. 5 and Dec. 7 at FAU Soccer Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla. The first national semifinal on Friday, Dec. 5 will be played and shown live on ESPNU at 5 p.m., and the second semifinal will begin at approximately 7:30 p.m. and air live on ESPNU. The national championship match will take place Sunday, Dec. 7 at 1 p.m., and will also broadcast live on ESPNU.