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SALT LAKE CITY - Utah, ranked 10th in the nation and winner of the Mountain West Conference regular season championship, has received a bid to the 2006 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship and will host first and second round games Thursday and Saturday at Ute Field.
The Utes are one of 16 seeded teams in the tournament and will welcome three other schools to the University of Utah campus. Utah (15-4-1), the No. 4 seed in the region, faces Idaho State (10-8-1) on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. (MST). BYU (13-2-4) and Portland (14-3-3) play in the second game at 7:00 p.m. MST). The winners will meet in the second round on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. (MST).
Tickets will go on sale Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. at the Utah Athletics Ticket Office, located at Rice-Eccles Stadium. They can also be purchased online at www.UtahTickets.com or by phone at (801) 581-UTIX. All-session tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for youth and college students. Single-session tickets are $8 for adults and $3 for youth and college students.
The Utes, ranked No. 10 in last week's NSCAA/adidas poll, are 15-4-1 overall and won the Mountain West Conference regular season title with a 7-0-0 mark. The Utes had won 11 games in a row before tying UNLV in the Mountain West Tournament title game on Saturday at Ute Field. The Rebels won the shootout 6-5 to claim the trophy.
Utah is in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive year and is hosting first and second round games for the third time. Ute head coach Rich Manning is 71-23-10 in his fifth year at Utah. He has led the Utes to three Mountain West Conference regular season championships (2003, '05, `06) and a pair of league tournament titles (2003, 2004).
Idaho State earned the Big Sky Conference's automatic bid by winning the league's tournament last weekend. Utah defeated Idaho State earlier this season, 3-1, on Sept. 22 in Pocatello, Idaho. Portland won the NCAA Championship in 2005. The Pilots were ranked No. 5 in last week's NSCAA/adidas Top 25 poll and have a 14-3-3 record. BYU, ranked 19th is last week's NSCAA/adidas poll, has a 13-2-4 overall record and placed second in the Mountain West Conference with a 4-1-2 mark.
"We're really excited to be in the tournament," said Ute head coach Rich Manning. "The most important thing is that we are in and have a chance to play. We've done really well on our home field this year, so I think it's a great opportunity for us to play in a comfortable environment and do the best we can to help ourselves advance. We're really proud of the fact that we've had such a good season, that we get to host, and that we get to be a seeded team. I think that's well deserved by the players.
"There are a lot of positive things about this, but at the end of the day all we're promised is an opportunity to play on Thursday. Idaho State gave us a good game at the end of September. I'm sure it will be another tight one on Thursday, just like the games we had last week in the conference tournament."
All first and second round matches in the 64-team tournament will take place at campus sites Thursday, Nov. 9 through Sunday, Nov. 12. Third-round matches will be played on campus sites Nov. 17-19, while quarterfinal matches will be Nov. 24-26. The 25th annual NCAA Division I Women's College Cup will be played December 1 and 3 at the SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. North Carolina State University is the host of the championship.
The four No. 1 seeds in the 2006 NCAA Championship are North Carolina, Texas, Santa Clara and Notre Dame. For more information or the complete NCAA Women's Soccer Championship bracket, please log on to www.ncaasports.com.
NCAA Soccer Championship Schedule at Ute Field
First Round (Thursday, November 9) Game 1 - Utah vs. Idaho State 4:30 p.m. Game 2 - Portland vs. BYU 7:00 p.m.
Second Round (Saturday, November 11) Game 3 - Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner 5:00 p.m.
(All times Mountain Standard Time)
