Nov. 9, 2015
NCAA Championship Interactive Bracket
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame women’s soccer team will once again assume host duties when the 34th NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship kicks off on Friday, as the No. 11/7 Irish claimed a No. 3 seed Monday when the field of 64 was announced by the Division I Women’s Soccer Committee.
The Irish (13-4-1), who will be making their 23rd straight NCAA Championship appearance, will host Horizon League Champion Oakland (8-5-7) at 7 p.m. ET Friday at Alumni Stadium. On the other side of the regional bracket is No. 2 seed Rutgers, which will host second- and third-round matchups should the Scarlet Knights advance.
“I think it’s a great draw,” Irish head coach Theresa Romagnolo said, “but really I love where this team is at. I love the things that we’ve been doing leading up to this point and I’m excited for us moving forward about what we can accomplish.”
Notre Dame is one of eight Atlantic Coast Conference programs to earn a bid to the tournament, with seven of those teams earning seeds. Conference champion Florida State (14-2-4) claimed the No. 1 overall seed, with runner-up Virginia (16-1-2) also taking a No. 1 seed. Clemson (13-4-1) was a No. 2 seed, while Notre Dame, Duke (10-5-4) and North Carolina (14-4-1) earned No. 3 seeds and Virginia Tech (14-3-2) grabbed a No. 4 seed.
The Irish will look to make a run to the NCAA Women’s College Cup, scheduled for December 4 and 6 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. Notre Dame’s last appearance in the College Cup came in 2010 when the Irish last won a national championship.
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Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.