Saturday, November 16
Washington, DC
Noon
West Virginia University
at
Georgetown
Photo by: Jennifer Shephard
WVU Earns 20th Straight NCAA Tournament Bid
November 11, 2019 05:28 PM | Women's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women's soccer team earned a bid in the 2019 NCAA Tournament and will face Georgetown in the first round on Saturday, Nov. 16, at Shaw Field in Washington D.C.
With the selection, the Mountaineers have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 20 consecutive seasons, which is tied for the fifth-longest active streak nationally. West Virginia is 21-19-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and has won four straight opening-round matches, dating back to 2015.
"The NCAA selection committee always has a tough job to do," coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. "I'm certainly glad that the committee saw the value in our RPI to give us an at-large bid. This team has stepped up this season. It's been incredible to watch the journey and how they came together and just how badly they wanted to be the team to get to 20."
Saturday's match marks the second time the two teams have met this season after Georgetown earned a 3-0 win over West Virginia on Sept. 15. The Mountaineers hold a 15-6-2 advantage in the series, while the Hoyas narrowly edged WVU, 6-5, on penalty kicks in the only match between the foes in the only meeting in the NCAA Tournament.
Georgetown enters the match with a 13-4-3 this season after falling in the Big East Championship game to No.1-seeded Xavier, 2-0, on Sunday. Fifth-year senior Amanda Carolan leads the Hoyas with 29 points on a team-high 11 goals and seven assists.
Sophomore forward Alina Stahl paces WVU with 12 points on a team-best five goals and two assists. Freshman forward Julianne Vallerand ranks No. 2 with 11 points (5 G, 1 A), while sophomore forward Lizzie Mayfield shows a team-high four assists.
The WVU backline has posted seven shutouts this season, with six credited to senior goalkeeper Rylee Foster. Foster is third amongst active student-athletes in Division I and second on the school's career shutouts list with 37.
Thirty-one conferences were granted automatic bids for the 2019 championship, while the remaining 33 teams were selected at-large. The top 16 teams are seeded and conference teams cannot play each other in the first or second rounds. When pairing teams, the committee follows geographic proximity parameters. The top 16 teams will host and all other sites were selected for the first round to create the least number of flights.
First-round games will be played Nov. 15, 16 and 17 at campus sites. Second-round games will be played Friday, Nov. 22, at campus sites and third-round games will be played Sunday, Nov. 24, at the same campus sites. Quarterfinal games will be played Nov. 29 or 30 also on campus sites.
The 40th annual NCAA Women's College Cup will be played Dec. 6 and 8 at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California. The first national semifinal will be played at 7 p.m. ET Friday, Dec. 6, and the second semifinal will begin at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET live. The national championship match will take place at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8.
With the selection, the Mountaineers have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 20 consecutive seasons, which is tied for the fifth-longest active streak nationally. West Virginia is 21-19-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and has won four straight opening-round matches, dating back to 2015.
"The NCAA selection committee always has a tough job to do," coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. "I'm certainly glad that the committee saw the value in our RPI to give us an at-large bid. This team has stepped up this season. It's been incredible to watch the journey and how they came together and just how badly they wanted to be the team to get to 20."
Saturday's match marks the second time the two teams have met this season after Georgetown earned a 3-0 win over West Virginia on Sept. 15. The Mountaineers hold a 15-6-2 advantage in the series, while the Hoyas narrowly edged WVU, 6-5, on penalty kicks in the only match between the foes in the only meeting in the NCAA Tournament.
Georgetown enters the match with a 13-4-3 this season after falling in the Big East Championship game to No.1-seeded Xavier, 2-0, on Sunday. Fifth-year senior Amanda Carolan leads the Hoyas with 29 points on a team-high 11 goals and seven assists.
Sophomore forward Alina Stahl paces WVU with 12 points on a team-best five goals and two assists. Freshman forward Julianne Vallerand ranks No. 2 with 11 points (5 G, 1 A), while sophomore forward Lizzie Mayfield shows a team-high four assists.
The WVU backline has posted seven shutouts this season, with six credited to senior goalkeeper Rylee Foster. Foster is third amongst active student-athletes in Division I and second on the school's career shutouts list with 37.
Thirty-one conferences were granted automatic bids for the 2019 championship, while the remaining 33 teams were selected at-large. The top 16 teams are seeded and conference teams cannot play each other in the first or second rounds. When pairing teams, the committee follows geographic proximity parameters. The top 16 teams will host and all other sites were selected for the first round to create the least number of flights.
First-round games will be played Nov. 15, 16 and 17 at campus sites. Second-round games will be played Friday, Nov. 22, at campus sites and third-round games will be played Sunday, Nov. 24, at the same campus sites. Quarterfinal games will be played Nov. 29 or 30 also on campus sites.
The 40th annual NCAA Women's College Cup will be played Dec. 6 and 8 at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California. The first national semifinal will be played at 7 p.m. ET Friday, Dec. 6, and the second semifinal will begin at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET live. The national championship match will take place at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8.
Players Mentioned
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