Endicott Athletics and Recreation

    • Gulls grab At-Large bid into NCAA Tournament

    Gulls grab At-Large bid into NCAA Tournament
    November 10, 2008

    Nov. 10, 2008

    BEVERLY, Mass. - The NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Committee announced today the field of 61 teams for the 2008 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship on Monday afternoon, and Endicott College has been awarded an At-Large bid. The Gulls resume was enough to impress the selection committee as Endicott will travel to Rochester, N.Y. to face Nazareth College in the opening round.

    Thirty-nine conferences were awarded automatic qualification for the 2008 championship. Three teams were selected from Pool B, which consists of independent institutions, and institutions that are members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification. The final 19 berths were reserved for Pool C, which are institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that are not the conference champion and any remaining Pool B teams.

    Three teams will receive first-round byes. Three two-team first-round matches will be played to determine the teams that advance to the second round to play the three teams that received a first-round bye. Thirteen four-team sites will conduct first- and second-round play on the first weekend of the championship, November 14-15 or 15-16. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites November 21-22 or 22-23. All games, except the semifinals and final, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. Winners of the four sectionals will advance to the semifinals December 5-6 at Macpherson Stadium at Bryan Park in Greensboro, North Carolina.

    Endicott and Nazareth will square-off at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon in Rochester, N.Y. The Golden Flyers snuck into the tournament after falling in the Empire 8 finals to Ithaca, 5-0. The Golden Flyers benefited from a couple of positive out-of-conference results, specifically a 2-1 overtime win over 10th-ranked Virginia Wesleyan and a 1-1 tie against fifth-ranked William Smith.

    Liberty League champion William Smith (13-1-4) will play Keuka (10-5-3) of the North Eastern Athletic Conference at 11 a.m. The winners of each game will play again Sunday at Nazareth at 1 p.m. Tickets are \$6 for adults, \$3 for students and \$2 for children.