INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champion Trinity University (12-4-2) has earned its 13th-straight berth into the 64-team NCAA Div. III Women’s Soccer Tournament, as the league’s automatic qualifier. NCAA Release | Tournament Bracket
The Tigers earned the SCAC automatic bid by virtue of their 1-0 win over Southwestern University Sunday afternoon. The SCAC championship was the fourth consecutive league crown for Trinity and assured the Tigers of their 28th appearance in NCAA postseason play since 1992.
Trinity will travel to Belton, Texas, for its NCAA opening round contest on Saturday against Hardin-Simmons University (16-1-2), the automatic qualifier out of the American Southwest Conference (ASC). The Tigers and Cowgirls met earlier this season as the fixture ended in a 3-3 tie on September 15th. The first-round matchup will be the 16th all-time meeting between Trinity and Hardin-Simmons in the NCAA Tournament. The Cowgirls hold a 7-6-2 edge in the previous 15 meetings, but the Tigers have won the last two fixtures in 2019 and 2021. Overall, the SCAC is 10-8-3 all-time against the ASC in NCAA Tournament play.
On the other side of the bracket, host University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (16-1-1) will take on Emory University (8-5-4). The winners of Saturday’s matches play on Sunday with a trip to the sections on the line.
Trinity, which holds a 33-21-12 record in NCAA postseason play, will be led by eighth-year head coach Dylan Harrison. The Tigers got strong performances this season from First Team All-SCAC forwards junior Michaela Bosco and sophomore Hanna Khan. The dynamic duo combined for 12 goals and dished out nine assists for a total of 33 points. On the defensive side of the ball, Trinity is led by three-time SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year Bailey Meyer who anchored a defense that posted an SCAC best 0.72 goals-against-average heading into the NCAA Tournament and carries a league high 10 shutouts on the year.
Forty-one conferences were awarded automatic qualification for the 2023 championship. One team was selected from Pool B. The other 22 berths were reserved for Pool C, which included institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that did not win their conference championship and any remaining Pool B teams.
Sixteen four-team sites will conduct first- and second-round play on the first weekend of the championship, November 10 and 11 or 11 and 12. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites on Nov. 17 and 18 or 18 and 19. 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 on Nov. 30 and Dec. 2, at Kerr Stadium in Salem, Va., with Roanoke College and Old Dominion Athletic Conference serving as hosts.
