Columbus State, GCSU, UNC Pembroke Advance to NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS, IND – The Columbus State Lady Cougars, UNC Pembroke Lady Braves and GCSU Bobcats learned on Monday that they will have the opportunity to compete for the national championship as the 48-team field for the NCAA Tournament was released. GCSU and UNC Pembroke will play in first-round games while Columbus State, as the top seed in the tournament, will receive a bye and host a second-round game.

Columbus State received the Peach Belt’s automatic bid after winning the PBC Tournament on Sunday over UNC Pembroke 1-0 in overtime. At 19-3-1 overall, the Lady Cougars will make their third straight trip to the NCAA’s in the five-year existence of the program. CSU will also host for the second straight season, meeting the winner of the GCSU-Catawba game which will be held in Columbus. CSU won the region last year and advanced to the NCAA national quarterfinals.

GCSU, which has also only had women’s soccer for five years, will reach the NCAA Tournament field for the first time. The 13-2-4 Bobcats under first-year head coach Juan Pablo Favero set a school record for wins after earning the team’s first-ever national ranking. GCSU will bring the best defense in the Peach Belt to the NCAA Tournament after allowing a league-low eight goals to be scored against them this season. GCSU has not faced Catawba this year.

UNC Pembroke is also making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history after setting a record for wins. The 18-2-1 Lady Braves are ranked #10 in the nation and reached the PBC tournament finals for the first time where they fell 2-1 in overtime. UNCP will travel to Jefferson City, Tenn., to meet Pfeiffer in the first round with the winner taking on host Carson-Newman. UNCP defeated Pfeiffer 2-0 earlier in the season.

All first-round games will be held this Friday, Nov. 14, with the second round on Sunday, Nov. 16. Game times have not been announced. The two finalists in each region will advance to the third- and quarterfinal-round competition to be played Friday, November 21 and Sunday, November 23. The semifinals and championship games will be played and December 5 & 7 at the University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida.