NCAA Championship Bracket
INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Midwest Athletic Conference regular season (Findlay) and tournament (Walsh) champions will be competing in the NCAA DII Women’s Soccer Championship Midwest Regional following the selection show announcement Monday night.
Findlay and Walsh are in the field of 56 teams chose by the national committee. UF received an at-large selection as the No. 3 seed and No. 2 seed Walsh earned an AQ for winning the conference tournament in Dayton.
Findlay will also host part of the Midwest Regional bracket at DeHaven Field. The Oilers will face No. 6 seed Rockhurst at 1 p.m. ET and Walsh matches up against No. 7 seed UIndy at 10 a.m. ET, both contests on Thursday.
If Findlay and Walsh would each happen to win, they would square off against each other in the second round on Saturday.
The Oilers have had a terrific season and carry a 14-2-1 overall record into their first playoff berth. UF saw its conference tournament run end in the semifinals but have a great chance for redemption on the national stage.
Walsh has NCAA Championship experience, dancing in the field for the second consecutive year. Last year, the Cavaliers made their way in with an at-large selection; now, this program is a super dangerous draw having moved up from No. 4 to No. 2 in the final region rankings.
The Cavaliers (15-4-0) earned three straight victories in the Great Midwest Championship bracket to cement their national qualifier status.
The Atlantic, South and South Central regions received six championship berths. The Central and West regions received seven championship berths. The East, Midwest and Southeast regions received eight championship berths. Championship berths were determined based on the number of institutions sponsoring the sport in each region.
For first- and second-round competition, teams will compete at three- or four-team sites. Depending on the number of regional berths, the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds may have a bye in the first round. In regions with six berths, teams will be paired in their respective regions with the No. 4 seed playing the No. 5 seed; and the No. 3 seed facing the No. 6 seed. The winner of the No. 4/5 seed game will advance to play the No. 1 seed and the winner of the No. 3/6 seed game will take on the No. 2 seed. In regions with seven berths, the No. 2 seed will play the No. 7 seed in the first round. In regions with eight berths, the No. 1 seed will play the No. 8 seed in the first round.
First-round matches will take place Thursday, Nov. 21 or Friday, Nov. 22 and second-round matches will take place either Saturday, Nov. 23 or Sunday, Nov. 24. All games will be played on the campus of a participating institution and will consist of two sites per region. The two finalists in each subregion will advance to third- and quarterfinal-round competition to be played Thursday, Dec. 5 or Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7 or Sunday, Dec. 8. The semifinals and championship games will take place Dec. 12 and 14 at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh hosted by Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, and SportsPITTSBURGH.
In the 2018 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer national championship game Bridgeport defeated Grand Valley State to win the program’s first national title. Bridgeport scored a goal in the 78th minute and used a strong defense and terrific goalie play to win 1-0.
The first-round sites and team matchups are as follows. All matches are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 22 and Sunday, Nov. 24, unless otherwise noted.