INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champion Trinity University (16-1-2) has earned its 15th-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 double overtime win over Texas Lutheran University Sunday afternoon. The SCAC championship was the fifth consecutive league crown for Trinity and assured the Tigers of their 29th appearance in NCAA postseason play since 1992.
Trinity will travel to Claremont, Calif., for its NCAA opening round contest on Saturday against Cal-Lutheran (12-3-4), who received one of the 21 Pool-C at-large bids into the National Tournament out of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). The first-round matchup will be the second meeting between Trinity and Cal Lutheran in the NCAA Tournament. The Regals won the previous contest, 3-0, in the second round of the 1992 tournament. Overall, the SCAC is 2-1-2 all-time against the SCIAC in the NCAA Tournament.
On the other side of the bracket, host Pomona-Pitzer (15-2-2) will take on UC Santa Cruz (10-2-5). The winners of Saturday’s matches play on Sunday with a trip to the sections on the line.
Trinity, which holds a 33-22-12 record in NCAA postseason play, will be led by ninth-year head coach Dylan Harrison. The Tigers got strong performances this season from First Team All-SCAC performers in senior Michaela Bosco and junior Bri Werner. The dynamic duo combined for 13 goals and dished out 22 assists for a total of 48 points. On the defensive side of the ball, Trinity is led by the SCAC Defensive Player and Newcomer of the Year in first year Kylie Harris and fellow First Team All-SCAC selections, sophomore defender Malea Cesar and senior goalkeeper Lauryn Lewis. The trio anchored a defensive effort that posted an SCAC best 0.26 goals-against-average (7th Nationally) heading into the NCAA Tournament and have secured 17 shutouts on the year, tied for second most in all of Division III.
Forty-three conferences were awarded automatic qualification for the 2024 championship. The other 21 berths were reserved for at-large selections designated by the NPI.
Sixteen four-team sites will conduct first- and second-round play on the first weekend of the championship, November 15 and 16 or 16 and 17. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites November 22 and 23 or 23 and 24. 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 6 and 8, at Peter Johann Memorial Field in Las Vegas, Nevada, with UNLV and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority serving as hosts.
