Wildcats earn NCAA Championship Tournament berth
11/9/2009 4:44:58 PM
CHICO, Calif. – After making an early exit in last week’s California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament, you can forgive the Chico State women’s soccer team of being more than a little anxious as the Wildcat players gathered in Acker Gym Monday afternoon to find out if the ’Cats had qualified for the 2009 NCAA Division II Championship Tournament. But the tension in the room quickly gave way to hearty cheers when the official announcement came down: the Wildcats were selected as one of six teams competing in the West Region bracket, and for the fourth time in six years, Chico State will get the chance to play for the NCAA title beginning Thursday in San Diego against Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) champion and defending national champs Seattle Pacific University.
The Wildcats (8-5-8 on the season) and Falcons (16-3-1) will square off at Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at Triton Soccer Stadium on the UC San Diego campus. This will be the second meeting of the year between the two schools – Seattle Pacific edged Chico State 1-0 September 8 at University Soccer Stadium.
“This is terrific,” Chico State Head Coach Kim Sutton said ecstatically immediately following Monday’s announcement. “We worked hard all year to get to this point, and this is exactly where we wanted to be. Getting into the tournament is an honor, and it’s good for this young team to be able to live this experience.”
The Wildcats enter the NCAA Tournament seeded sixth in the West Region. CCAA champion Cal State L.A. grabbed the No. 1 seed, with UC San Diego seeded second. Seattle Pacific earned the region’s No. 3 seed, followed by Pacific West Conference champion Dixie State College, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Chico State.
In four NCAA Championship Tournament appearances, the Wildcats have yet to advance past the first round. Chico State’s last West Region match was in 2007, when it battled Cal State L.A. to a scoreless tie, but lost 3-1 on penalty kicks.
The winner of Thursday’s Chico State-Seattle Pacific match will play Saturday at 7:00 p.m. against UC San Diego, which drew a first round bye.
Ticket information for the West Region matches will be posted on the Wildcats Athletics website as soon as it becomes available.
48 teams from eight different regions throughout the country are selected for the NCAA Championship Tournament, with the national champ crowned December 5 in Tampa, Florida.