November 6, 2006

GREENSBORO, NC – UNC Greensboro will take on Oklahoma State in Clemson, SC, in the opening round of the 2006 NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship.

Ranked No. 12 in this week’s Soccer America Top 25, the Cowgirls (16-3-2) are seeded fourth in their respective quarter of the bracket. They lost to Texas, a No. 1 seed in its quarter of the bracket, in the Big XII semifinals, 2-0. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

All first round games will be played on Friday with the exception of the Reno, NV site, which will play on Thursday with second round games to follow on Saturday. Game times have not yet been announced.

Defensively, the Cowgirls have a 0.73 goals against average, allowing just 16 goals in 21 matches this season. Offensively, Oklahoma State has seven players with 10 or more points. Siera Strawser leads the team with 16 points (5g, 6a).

The Spartans (13-7-2) started out the season 1-7-0; facing arguably one of the toughest schedules in the nation before going unbeaten in their final 14 matches. UNCG faced NCAA qualifiers North Carolina, Tennessee, Wake Forest, William & Mary. The Tar Heels are the top-seeded team in the tournament, while William & Mary enters with just one loss on the season.

UNCG is currently on a 10-game winning streak, which is the longest streak in the program’s 18-year history, and is unbeaten in 14 straight.

“There are four very good teams in our bracket and any one of us could come out on top,” stated head coach Eddie Radwanski. “I’m very excited about the newness of it all; playing a team that we haven’t seen before.”

 “We are just excited to have this opportunity and to play a different team,” said senior tri-captian Deven Beachum. We’ve come a very long way together. We all believe in each other and will continue to play well with each other.”

The Spartans won the Southern Conference regular season title and then went on to win the Southern Conference Tournament this past weekend. UNCG defeated Furman, 3-1, in the title game to earn the NCAA Tournament automatic bid.

UNCG will be making its seventh all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. UNCG’s last appearance in the NCAA Tournament was in 2003 when it advanced to the second round. The Spartans defeated in-state rival Wake Forest, 2-1, before losing to eventual-National Champion North Carolina, 5-0. UNCG has advanced to the second round in three of its previous six appearances, beating Duke in 1997 and William & Mary in 2000 before the win over Wake Forest in 2003.

Coupled with UNCG’s women’s team also earning the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, it is the third time in school history that both Spartan soccer teams will be in the NCAA Tournament in the same year. It also happened in 1996 and 1998.

The top 16 teams are seeded and conference teams cannot play each other in the first round; however, second round conference match-ups are permissible. When pairing teams, the committee is restricted by geographic proximity. Sites are selected for the first and second rounds to create the least number of flights; therefore, only 12 of the top 16 seeds will be hosting first- and second-round competition.

The four No. 1 seeds include the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the University of Notre Dame, Santa Clara University and the University of Texas at Austin. All four teams enter the tournament as automatic qualifiers and represent four different conferences.

First-round matches will be played Friday, November 10, at campus sites, and second-round matches will be played Sunday, November 12, at the same campus sites. The two first-round contests hosted by Utah will be played Thursday, November 9 with the second-round game to be played Saturday, November 11. Third-round games will be played on campus sites November 17, 18 or 19, as will quarterfinal matches on November 24, 25 or 26. Times will be announced.

The 25th annual NCAA Division I Women’s College Cup will be played December 1 and 3 at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. North Carolina State University, the Town of Cary, and the Capital Area Soccer League will serve as hosts.

The full tournament pairings follow:

First Round Friday, Nov. 10
At Chapel Hill, N.C.
North Carolina (21-1-0) vs. UNC Asheville (10-6-3)
William & Mary (16-1-3) vs. Navy (21-1-0)

At Knoxville, Tenn.
Louisville (13-4-2) vs. Duke (9-8-2)
UAB (8-11-1) vs. Tennessee (11-6-3)

At Winston Salem, N.C.
Wake Forest (15-5-1) vs. Old Dominion (17-4-1)
West Virginia (14-3-3) vs. Virginia (10-7-2)

At College Station, Texas
SMU (16-4-1) vs. McNeese St. (10-6-2)
Grambling (9-6-2) vs. Texas A&M (14-5-1)

At Los Angeles
UCLA (17-3-0) vs. UNLV (9-10-3)
Cal St. Fullerton (11-7-2) vs. Loyola Marymount (10-2-6)

At Milwaukee
Marquette (11-6-4) vs. Purdue (14-5-3)
Loyola (Ill.) (14-6-3) vs. Florida (13-5-4)

At Reno, Nev. (will be played Nov. 9)
Utah (15-4-1) vs. Idaho St. (10-8-1)
Brigham Young (13-2-4) vs. Portland (14-3-3)

At Storrs, Conn.
Connecticut (10-7-3) vs. Columbia (10-4-3)
Long Island (13-7-1) vs. Texas (17-3-2)

At Santa Clara, Calif.
Santa Clara (15-4-1) vs. Southern California (10-4-5)
Nevada (13-4-4) vs. Stanford (13-6-1)

At Clemson, S.C.
Clemson (11-7-2) vs. Vanderbilt (10-4-6)
UNC Greensboro (13-7-2) vs. Oklahoma St. (16-3-2)

At Saint Louis
Illinois (14-7-0) vs. Southeast Missouri St. (10-7-2)
Drake (12-5-2) vs. St. Louis (14-3-2)

At Tallahassee, Fla.
California (11-4-5) vs. Auburn (11-5-3)
Jacksonville (11-9-1) vs. Florida St. (14-3-4)

At State College, Pa.
Penn St. (15-4-3) vs. Niagara (12-6-1)
Toledo (9-8-4) vs. Villanova (15-3-2)

At Piscataway, N.J.
Boston College (11-6-2) vs. Boston U. (13-4-3)
Hartford (10-8-2) vs. Rutgers (15-3-3)

At Boulder, Colo.
Colorado (12-5-4) vs. Colorado College (15-5-1)
Denver (18-2-1) vs. Kentucky (14-6-3)

At South Bend, Ind.
Wis.-Milwaukee (16-3-1) vs. Michigan (9-7-5)
Oakland (8-10-1) vs. Notre Dame (20-0-1)

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Second Round Sunday, Nov. 12 At Chapel Hill, N.C.
North Carolina-UNC Asheville winner vs. William & Mary-Navy winner

At Knoxville, Tenn.
Louisville-Duke winner vs. UAB-Tennessee winner

At Winston Salem, N.C.
Wake Forest-Old Dominion winner vs. West Virginia-Virginia winner

At College Station, Texas
SMU-McNeese St. winner vs. Grambling-Texas A&M winner

At Los Angeles
UCLA-UNLV winner vs. Cal St. Fullerton-Loyola Marymount winner

At Milwaukee
Marquette-Purdue winner vs. Loyola (Ill.)-Florida winner

At Reno, Nev.
Utah-Idaho St. winner vs. Brigham Young-Portland winner

At Storrs, Conn.
Connecticut-Columbia winner vs. Long Island U.-Texas winner

At Santa Clara, Calif.
Santa Clara-Southern California winner vs. Nevada-Stanford winner

At Clemson, S.C.
Clemson-Vanderbilt winner vs. UNC Greensboro-Oklahoma St. winner

At Saint Louis
Illinois-Southeast Missouri St. winner vs. Drake-St. Louis winner

At Tallahassee, Fla.
California-Auburn winner vs. Jacksonville-Florida St. winner

At State College, Pa.
Penn St.-Niagara winner vs. Toledo-Villanova winner

At Piscataway, N.J.
Boston College-Boston U. winner vs. Hartford-Rutgers winner

At Boulder, Colo.
Colorado-Colorado College winner vs. Denver-Kentucky winner

At South Bend, Ind.
Wis.-Milwaukee-Michigan winner vs. Oakland, Mich.-Notre Dame winner

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Third Round Friday, Nov. 17
TBD
Saturday, Nov. 18
TBD
Sunday, Nov. 19
TBD

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Quarterfinals Friday, Nov. 24
TBD
Saturday, Nov. 25
TBD
Sunday, Nov. 26
TBD

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Semifinals Friday, Dec. 1 At Cary, N.C.
TBD
Championship Sunday, Dec. 3 At Cary, N.C.
TBD, 12:30 p.m.

- UNCG -