USA Soccer Travels To Tallahassee To Face #1 Seed FSU
The University of South Alabama Women’s Soccer team pose after wining their first-ever Sun Belt Conference Championship by defeating Western Kentucky 1-0 on Sunday in San Marcos, Texas. | sunbeltsports.org
The South Alabama women’s soccer team found out that they will travel to face #1 seed Florida State in Tallahassee on Friday in the opening round of the 2013 NCAA Championship.
The Jags (14-5-3) won their first-ever Sun Belt Conference Tournament title and earned an automatic bid to the field of 64. Florida State is the #1 seed overall, the Atlantic Coast Conference champion with an overall record of 18-1-3. Their only loss of the season came to then #1 ranked Virginia.
Actually, all of the #1 seeds in this year’s tournament hail from the ACC. FSU, Virginia, Virginia Tech and North Carolina are all top seeds. Meanwhile, the ACC has eight teams competing in the tournament, which leads all conferences.
“We’re buzzing with excitement,” said USA first-year head coach Graham Winkworth. “Ten months ago, when I came here, I told the girls we would be playing for a championship, and here we are, playing the top team in the country in the NCAA Tournament.”
“I want the girls to enjoy this occasion,” Winkworth continued. “They enjoyed last night and watching the selection show today, but tomorrow we’re back to business, and it will be like any other week. Florida State are the best team, but we’ve prepared for good teams all year long.”
“We’re going to treat them with respect, but we’re not going to go to any game scared,” Winkworth concluded. “It’s 11 players versus 11 players, and we’re going to give them a game. We’re looking forward to the opportunity.”
Thirty-one conference were granted automatic berths in the 2013 Championship tournament with the remaining 33 teams 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 and sites are selected for the first round to create the least number of flights.
First round matches are played at campus sites on November 15 and 16. Second and third round matches will be played on Friday, November 22 and Sunday, November 24 at the same campus sites.
Quarterfinal matches will be played on November 29 and 30 also on campus sites.
The 32nd Annual NCAA Women’s COllege Cup will be held on December 6 and 8 in Cary, North Carolina at the WakeMed Soccer Park with Campbell University serving as the host. The national semifinals will be played on December 6 and both will air on ESPNU, the first at 5:00pm Eastern Time and the second airing at 7:30pm Eastern time.
The national championship match will air on ESPNU live on Sunday, December 8 at 3:00pm Eastern time.
The Jags and the Seminoles will play this Friday in Tallahassee with the match starting at 6:00pm Central time.