The NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee made its selections for the 22nd Division I Women’s Soccer Championship on Monday, and five Pacific-10 Conference teams made the cut.
UCLA, the No. 4 seed, leads the way among Pac-10 teams after finishing 16-1-3 overall and 8-0-1 in conference, winning the conference title outright. Arizona State, USC, Stanford and Washington also received bids.
The Bruins will host the first and second rounds of the tournament at Drake Stadium, beginning on Nov. 14 when UCLA faces San Diego (9-7-4) in the first round. Friday’s other first-round matchup at Drake Stadium will include USC (9-7-4) facing off with Pepperdine (13-5-1).
It is the second year in a row that San Diego and USC ended up at UCLA for the first and second rounds. UCLA had the upper hand last year defeating USC, 1-0, in double-overtime in the second round.
This marks the sixth straight year that the Trojans advanced to the tournament. They finished at 5-3-1 in conference play to tie for third with Stanford. USC is led by freshman Rosa Anna Tantillo, who has seven goals and 16 points this season.
Arizona State finished in the runner-up conference spot this year and received its third bid in the past four years. The Sun Devils face Cal Poly (18-1-2) in the first round Friday at 3 p.m.
In 2002, Arizona State advanced to the second round after defeating Washington State. The SunDevils hold a 2-2 all-time tournament record.
Stanford also makes its sixth-straight postseason appearance in the tournament. The Cardinal completed the 2003-04 season with a victory over Cal and finished 10-8-2 overall. Stanford finished in a tie for third in the conference.
The Cardinal will face No. 9-seeded Santa Clara in the first round Friday at Santa Clara’s Buck Shaw Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Stanford is led by All-American goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart, who ended the regular season with seven shutouts, and senior co-captain Allyson Marquand, who has 10 goals.
Washington (11-6-3) finished fifth in the conference this season and will face Nebraska (12-7-1) in Friday’s first round. The Huskies wrapped up the season with a 3-0 win over Arizona on Sunday.
The second round takes place on Sunday with the national champion eventually being crowned on Dec. 7.