Men’s soccer all-conference selections

women’s soccer to begin ncaas in new york

It might not be common to head north when the weather starts getting colder, but that is the direction in which the Muhlenberg women’s soccer team will travel for the first rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

This will be the fourth NCAA Tournament appearance for Muhlenberg, which received an at-large bid after tying for the Centennial Conference regular-season championship, and the first since 2003. The Mules went 1-1 in each of their first three NCAA trips, advancing to the Round of 16 in both 2001 and 2003.

Ithaca (14-4-1) earned an automatic bid as the champion of the Empire 8. The Bombers, who have been ranked as high as 14th in the country this year, are in the NCAAs for the seventh straight year and are making their 20th NCAA appearance, a total matched only by William Smith in Division III history. Ithaca is 27-14-4 all-time in NCAA play, including national championships in 1990 and 1991. The Bombers reached the sectional finals (“Elite 8”) each of the last two years.

This will be the first meeting in women’s soccer between the two schools, who have two common opponents this year. Both defeated Gettysburg (Ithaca 1-0 in the first game of the season and Muhlenberg 2-1 in the last game of the regular season) and lost to top-ranked defending national champion Messiah (Ithaca 4-1 and Muhlenberg 6-1).

Muhlenberg enters the NCAAs with seven wins in its last eight matches. Ithaca started off 10-2 but is only 4-2-1 in its last seven contests.
Click here for the complete bracket.