INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament champion Trinity University (14-2-1) has earned its 11th-straight berth into the 64-team NCAA Div. III Women’s Soccer Tournament, as the league’s automatic qualifier. Interactive bracket
The Tigers earned the SCAC automatic bid by virtue of their 5-0 win over Southwestern University Sunday afternoon. The SCAC championship was the second consecutive league crown for Trinity and assured the Tigers of their 26th appearance in NCAA postseason play since 1992.
Trinity will host Hardin-Simmons (14-3-1) for its NCAA opening round contest, the automatic qualifier out of the American Southwest Conference (ASC), on Saturday in San Antonio, Texas. Saturday will mark the 15th meeting between the Tigers and the Cowgirls in the NCAA Tournament with Trinity earning a 2-0 victory in the most recent matchup in the second round of the 2019 tournament. On the other side of the bracket, Pomona-Pitzer (15-1-2) will take on Pacific Lutheran (18-2-0). The winners of Saturday’s matches play on Sunday with a trip to the sectionals on the line.
Trinity, which holds a 31-19-10 record in NCAA postseason play, will be led by sixth-year head coach Dylan Harrison. The Tigers got strong performances this season from Kaity Ward and Molly Sheridan as the duo combined for 29 goals and dished out 20 assists for 78 total points. On the defensive side of the ball, Trinity is led by Bailey Meyer who anchored a defense that has allowed just 14 goals all season, posted 10 shutouts and sustains a 0.81 goals-against-average.
Forty-four teams automatically qualified, while 20 other teams earned a berth through Pool C, which included teams that represent independent institutions or that weren't their respective conferences' automatic qualifier.
Sixteen four-team sites will conduct first- and second-round play on the first weekend of the championship, November 12 and 13 or 13 and 14. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites November 19 and 20 or 20 and 21.
All games, except the semifinals and final, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. Winners of the four sectionals will advance to the semifinals December 3 and 4, at UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina, with The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Greensboro Sports Foundation serving as hosts.
