U-M Receives NCAA Bid, Will Face Oakland in Opener
11/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Michigan has already faced Oakland once this season, losing 1-0 in its home opener Sept. 5 at the U-M Soccer Field. Coincidently, U-M opened up the 2002 NCAA Tourament with a matchup against OU, pulling out a 1-0 victory in Ann Arbor on its way to an appearance in the national quarterfinals. The Wolverines are 4-1-1 in six all-time meetings with the Golden Grizzlies. OU earned the Mid-Continent Conference's automatic bid by winning the Mid-Con Tournament championship with a 3-1 win over Oral Roberts (Nov. 9).
U-M is one of five Big Ten Conference teams in the field of 64. Big Ten regular-season champion Penn State is the fifth seed and will take on Navy, while Big Ten Tournament champion Illinois will match up with Western Michigan in first-round action. Rounding out the league teams are Purdue, which faces DePaul, and Ohio State, which will take the field against Dayton.
The Wolverines solidified their spot in the tournament after a late-season surge that featured wins in six of their last eight games, including the road victory over then No. 2-ranked Notre Dame. Most recently, Michigan posted wins over Ohio State and Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament (Nov. 6-9) before falling to Illinois in the championship final in Madison, Wis.
The NCAA third and quarterfinal rounds will be held at campus sites. Third-round matchups will be played Nov. 21-23 and quarterfinals will be held Nov. 28-Nov. 30. The four semifinalists will descend on Cary, N.C., Dec. 5-7 for the NCAA Women's College Cup, hosted by North Carolina State University and the Capital Area Soccer League.
NCAA Release (11/10/03)
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
